Five students were selected for Arkansas Governor’s School (AGS), a summer program for upcoming seniors at Hendrix College in Conway. Juniors Gabriella Crowley, Alex Denker and Hailey Squires for Social Science, Abigail Resendiz for Visual Arts and Riley Tribble for English/Language Arts.
Three alternates were chosen as well. The students are Conner Bumgarner as an alternate in Visual Arts, Kori Dement in Choral Music and Josie Hill in Natural Science.
AGS provides students a unique environment to learn a chosen field of study. Students will attend small classes along with different events on their own such as art exhibits or films. The program will run from June 8- July 19 with a mid-session break July 2-6. Since the Arkansas State Department of Education funds AGS, students do not have to pay for their room, board, tuition or classroom materials.
Since AGS is five-week program, students had to adjust summer plans.
“When I heard about AGS in October, I marked the calendar and postponed any hint of a plan that was made,” Squires said.
To apply, students had to write multiple essays and receive recommendations from the school. Students then chose their three areas of study: concentration (Area I), General Conceptual Development (Area II) and Personal and Social Development (Area III). If a student applied for the Fine Arts as one of their Area I subjects, they were also required to submit an audition video along with their application.
“I began working on the essays a month before it was due,” Squires said. “I just worked on it a little at a time and then finished the rest the weekend before it was due.”
Area I subjects include English, Natural Science, Social Science, Mathematics and the Fine Arts. The Fine Arts subject includes Drama, Instrumental Music, Choral Music or the Visual Arts. Area II classes are created to allow students to understand the way people think. These classes will have students question different morals and ethics. Area III will have students focus on psychology and sociology; they will watch plays or films to enhance their social development.
“I only applied for social science,” Squires said. “I love everything about social science. Lately I’ve been more interested in natural science, but I was more qualified for the social science field when I applied.”
Although it is beneficial to participate in this program for prospective college applications, not all students are attending AGS for this reason.
“I want to attend AGS because I will be around people that truly want to learn and devote time to learning, like myself,” Squires said.
AGS’ reflective curriculum emphasizes critical thinking and encourages students to find a field of study that best suits them.
“I expect AGS to help me discover what really interest me,” Squires said. “I want to major in something that I know will keep me happy and satisfied.”
Whether students attend Arkansas Governor’s School for the curriculum or experience, they will leave the program changed.
“I know AGS is going to be a life-changing experience,” Squires said. “I am more than ready to step on that campus and evolve with my peers.”
