South Shore Foundation Press Releases

Developing Scholars Project is new for high school students

(From left) Ed Coulter, chancellor of Arkansas State University Mountain Home, and Eddie Dry, assistant professor of biology, accept funding in the amount of $25,000 from South Shore Foundation for a new project called South Shore Developing Scholars Project. Jodie Jeffrey-Sanders (right) represents the foundation. The project will encourage high school students, with a supervising teacher and an ASUMH instructor, to work on independent research topics of the students' choosing.

FLIPPIN, Ark. - With the support of a $25,000 South Shore Foundation grant, Arkansas State University Mountain Home unveils a new program to encourage and assist high school students to do individual research projects. Dr. Eddie Dry, an ASUMH assistant professor of biology, will be project director of South Shore Developing Scholars Project. It is for students in Marion County and part of Boone County, the area served by South Shore Foundation and its parent company, Northern Arkansas Telephone Co.

The Developing Scholars project will be in effect for the 2002-03 school year. Up to 20 students from the various schools will design independent study projects and have access to biology, chemistry/physics and computer labs at ASUMH, and resources of the Norma E. Wood Library. "The ASUMH campus has wonderful library services," said Dry, with networked computers for Net-based research, a multimedia lab with digital cameras and CD burners, current Power Point Presentation software, and academic literature search engines.

According to the grant, students will have guidance from a teacher in their high school and an ASUMH instructor as they create projects, conduct research and prepare their findings for presentation to South Shore trustees and the public, perhaps in the format of a Project Fair next year, Dry said. Students will be invited to participate through their schools this spring, and projects will be done during the next school year. Finished projects will be evaluated in both subject matter and overall categories next April for awards such as tuition discounts to ASUMH or other college-related items.

The South Shore Developing Scholars Project will help high school students discover the many uses of telecommunications technology and apply it to topics that interest them. Additional goals are to familiarize students with a college campus, encouraging them to continue their education beyond high school graduation. "The link between education and economic success is well known," Dry said.

High school teachers in the project will gain experience with the technology while working with an ASUMH instructor for technical assistance when needed. Both the high school teachers and instructors will receive a small stipend to participate, and an allowance for materials and equipment is budgeted for each student project.

Ten ASUMH faculty members have asked to participate from a variety of backgrounds, such as literature, history, theater, chemistry, anatomy, biology, and math. "Seeing such a variety of disciplines represented within the ASU faculty, I hope that some students will pursue research areas outside those typically chosen," Dry stated.

South Shore is the charitable foundation of NATCO. It promotes telecommunications technology for projects of educational advancement, environmental preservation, economic development and community betterment. For more information, contact South Shore Foundation at 800-775-6682 or visit the Web site at www.southshore.com, or contact Dry at 508-6100, or 508-6146.