Six Mount St. Mary Academy juniors have been selected to participate in one of Arkansas’ most well-known summer programs for high school students. Caroline Cash, Ella Crowder, Elizabeth Gipson, Ann Marie Nguyen, Madeline Reyes and Arianne Ricaurte are among the group of gifted and talented students from across the state who have been invited to attend the 45th annual Arkansas Governor’s School (AGS), which will take place from July 7 to August 3 on the Arkansas Tech University campus in Russellville.
All six students were selected on the basis of their special aptitudes in one of nine fields: Caroline for mathematics; Ella, Elizabeth, and Ann Marie for natural science; Madeline for English / language arts; and Arianne for visual arts.
Founded in 1979 by then-Governor Bill Clinton, AGS is a four-week, non-credit summer residential program for select upcoming seniors that provides a unique supplement to the typical high school curriculum. Students are led to explore cutting-edge theories in the arts and sciences and to develop the creative and intellectual skills necessary for making positive contributions to their communities and to society at large.
According to the program’s website, “Both inside and outside the classrooms, AGS provides highly motivated, creative students with an intellectual atmosphere impossible to sustain in ordinary academic settings. The excitement of intellectual and artistic pursuits and the expectation of significant conceptual gains permeate all aspects of the participants’ lives for the full four weeks.”
AGS is funded by the Arkansas State Legislature as a portion of the biennial appropriation for Gifted and Talented Programs through the State Department of Education. State funds provide tuition, room board, and instructional materials for each student who attends the program.
