Camilla Ricaurte, a junior at Mount St. Mary Academy, is among the select group of rising high school seniors chosen to attend this year’s Arkansas Governor’s School (AGS), one of the state’s most prestigious academic traditions. Founded in 1979 by then-Governor Bill Clinton, AGS is a four-week summer residential program for gifted and talented students that provides a unique supplement to the typical high school curriculum. A member of the award-winning Concert Belles, Camilla was selected for the program based on her special aptitude in the field of choral music.
Eligible students must be nominated by their schools in order to apply for AGS. Students are selected to attend on the basis of their abilities and interests in a particular intellectual discipline or artistic field, and about two-thirds of each student’s class time during the summer program is devoted to this selected area. All students also pursue classroom work and reading in General Conceptual Development and in Personal and Social Development.
According to its website, “AGS provides highly motivated, creative students with an intellectual atmosphere impossible to sustain in ordinary academic settings. Students are led to explore cutting-edge theories in the arts and sciences and to develop a greater understanding of how art, culture, and knowledge change with time. Students are challenged to develop the rigorous creative and intellectual skills that will be critical to their leading the ideal ‘life well lived’ and for making positive contributions to their communities and to society at large.”
AGS serves up to 400 of Arkansas’ best students. This year’s program will take place July 5 to August 1 on the Arkansas Tech University campus in Russellville.
Congratulations, Camilla, on your selection to the 42nd annual Arkansas Governor’s School!
Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.