2022 Excellence in Construction Eagle Award Winner
Patrick Tinney, Baldwin and Shell Construction Company president, presented Kelly Boortz, Don Tyson School of Innovation principal, and Springdale Public Schools with a 2022 Excellence in Construction Award Oct. 11 at the School Board meeting.
The company earned the award through the Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas Excellence in Construction Program for the phase two 185,000-square-foot addition of the school from the fall of 2018 to the fall of 2020.
National Merit Semifinalists
The Springdale Public Schools School Board recognized nine Springdale Public Schools students who have qualified as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
Har-Ber High School’s Christian Crockett, Evan Clark Paull, James Myers, Knox Graham, Lauryn Peters, Maxwell McDonald, Nathaniel Kingsbury and Sophia Barnes, as well as Eli Wetzel of Don Tyson School of Innovation are all honored with the achievement.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to recognize and honor the nation’s academically talented students through scholarship programs, according to the corporation’s website.
The scholarship program is designed to promote a wider and deeper respect for learning, to shine a spotlight on brilliant students and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence at all levels of education, according to the website.
The Springdale seniors are nine of 169 students to earn the recognition this school year in Arkansas. Some 16,000 students have been named as National Merit semifinalists nationally this year.
The students entered the 2023 scholarship program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Semifinalists represent less than 1% of United States high school seniors and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists for all states is commensurate to the state's percentage of the total of graduating seniors nationally.
National Merit Scholarship Program
Board Recognizes Har-Ber Golf Team
The Har-Ber High School women’s golf team is the 2022 conference and state champions!
The team is both the 2022 6A West Conference winner and the 2022 6A State winner for the third consecutive year.
Team members Lauren Milligan and Charlie Whorton were named to the All-Conference and All-State teams. What an accomplishment for this team!
School Psychology Specialist of the Year
Congratulations to Jose Luna-Armenta, a Springdale Public Schools school psychology specialist, for winning the School Psychology Specialist of the Year award at the Arkansas School Psychology Association convention in Conway!
It's a Wrap!
John Steele Cooper, Springdale Public schools Communications assistant director, provided the School Board with a wrap up of the 12th Annual Ozark Media Arts Festival.
More than 500 junior and high school students participated in the festival from Oct. 5 to Oct. 6 at the Apollo on Emma, First United Methodist Church of Springdale and 214 by CACHE in Downtown Springdale.
Attendees from throughout Arkansas participated in the festival’s on-site competitions and industry-led workshops, as well as gained exposure to regional media stakeholders through the event.
The 12th Annual Ozark Media Arts Festival was made feasible through the support of sponsors that include McLarty Daniel, the Arkansas Broadcasters Association and Tyson Foods.
Festival Recap
By Joshua Korpella, Mark Willits, David Bode and Tyler Thornton
Don Tyson School of Innovation.
Commissioned School Security Officer Update
Damon Donnell, Student Services director, provided the School Board with an update on the Commissioned School Security Officer hiring process.
Eleven CSSOs have been hired and assigned to elementary schools, Nine of the 11 CSSOs have completed the initial three-phase, 60-hour course of training and passed the final examination
Additional updates on CSSO hiring include:
- Nine CSSO identification card applications have been mailed to the Arkansas State Police. CSSOs will be armed once the district receives these back.
- All CSSOs have cleared the Arkansas State Police and the FBI background checks.
- All CSSOs have passed the psychological exam.
- All CSSOs are proceeding with the Commercial Drivers License training requirement.
Springdale Schools currently we has three additional CSSOs who are going through the hiring process, for a total of 14 CSSOs. The district's goal is to hire four additional CSSOs before Oct. 24, for 18 total.
The School Board unanimously approved developing a Commissioned School Security Officer program at the 2022 August School Board meeting.
The district currently has 21 School Resource Officer positions supporting all of its middle, junior and high schools. The addition of professional Commissioned School Security Officers will provide a trained security presence in all of the district's elementary schools as well.
Commissioned School Security Officers must complete a state training course, pass an exam, be 21 or older, have no criminal record and must pass Arkansas State Police and FBI background checks.
School Resource Officers are provided in partnership with the Springdale and Tontitown police departments.
CSSOs will be school district employees and can enforce school rules. SROs can enforce laws.
Apply for a CSSO Position with Springdale Schools
Treehouse Pantry Receives Hunger Relief Award
The School Board received an update on Treehouse Pantry community partnerships and how it's impacting the community from Damon Donnell, Student Services director.
The district food pantry was recognized Sept. 15 with the 2022 Acting Out Against Hunger Award in Little Rock.
The award was presented by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, a Little Rock-based nonprofit that acts as a statewide voice to advance equitable solutions to hunger throughout Arkansas.
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance presents the award annually during Hunger Action Month in recognition of individuals and businesses who have gone above and beyond to help Arkansans suffering from food insecurity.
Some 444,130 people are facing hunger in Arkansas, 138,410 of whom are children, according to Feeding America. Feeding America is the largest nationwide nonprofit that partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the implementation of federal nutrition programs.
Washington County has a food insecurity rate of 14%, according to Aspire Arkansas, a nonprofit that provides online, downloadable county-by-county data on indicators for education, health, families and the community.
Donnell shared information on how community partners have supported the food pantry since it opened in October 2021 as well, to include:
- Tyson Foods - 600 cases of frozen protein
- Walmart - 16 pallets of food and supplies
- NWA Food Bank - 600 food boxes
- Community Clinic - Providing a patient advocate for the Treehouse Pantry to assist families with wrap around services
- Office Depot - $23,778 donation for classroom supplies ($350 for each Knapp Elementary School and K-8 Connect teacher)
- TANF - $15,000 small equipment and $5,000 for food for the Treehouse Pantry
- Schmieding Foundation, Inc. - $10,000 teacher classroom supplies reimbursement ($200 per teacher)
- Pack Shack and Wolfspeed - 23,000 meals
- UAMS - 60 car seats
- Fellowship - 10 car seats and hygiene supplies
- Harps Food - Grocery bags for the Treehouse Pantry
- Appleseeds - Fresh produce for the Treehouse Pantry
- Stonemill Breads - Loaves of bread
- Tyson Store - Thousands of hamburger patties and hotdogs for school events
- Cargill - School supplies
- Sam’s Club - Personal care supplies
- Local Crew NWA - School supplies
- Once Upon a Time Books - Thousands of books for the Treehouse Pantry - “Read and Feed Food Bags”
Thank you to all of the amazing community partners and volunteers who have supported Springdale families during Treehouse Pantry's first year of operation!