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Bearcat Wrap-up Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dr. Lee Smith
things that Mena Public School staff members need or want to know presented in a discussion format.
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- 2 days ago13 min
Week 6: Twelve Points Away
Happy Friday!Thank you for another week of good, hard work. Six weeks in, our routines are holding, our classrooms are settled, and the instruction we are seeing is purposeful and paced. A particular thank-you goes to everyone who gave time beyond the school day this week. Our elementary staff has been hosting grade-level parent meetings, and our middle school and high school staff held parent-teacher conferences, which meant late afternoons and evenings on top of a full teaching load. Those conversations are where families stop being an audience and start being partners. Every one of you who stayed made this district stronger this week than it was last week, and we do not take that for granted.That work connects directly to our three performance targets: continued academic growth, daily attendance at or above 93.5 percent, and steady improvement in behavior and school climate. Parent meetings and conferences move all three at once. A family that understands what their child is expected to learn is a family that gets that child to school, backs you up on expectations, and asks better questions at home. There is no target on our list that gets easier without them.The state released the 2026 school and district report cards yesterday, and I want to give them to you straight before anyone hears a version of them somewhere else. This report card is the first hard evidence of what our academic growth target actually produced last year, and it is good news. It is also specific about where our work is not finished, which is exactly what a useful measure should do.What the Report Card SaysMena School District earned a B for the second year in a row, with an index score of 520.31 out of 900. Two years ago that number was 451.02. Last year it was 485.00. This year it is 520.31. That is 69 points of movement in two years, and it puts us above 85 percent of the 251 rated districts in Arkansas. Last year we were above 69 percent. The state median district scored 466.00, so we are sitting 54 points above the middle of the state.Three of our four indicators improved for the third consecutive year. Achievement climbed from 110.69 to 122.51 to 146.16 out of 300 possible points, which is the largest single jump on the report card. Behind that number, the percentage of our students scoring at levels 3 and 4 rose in every subject: English Language Arts from 35.40 to 43.96 percent, mathematics from 42.74 to 49.80 percent, and science from 44.37 to 52.40 percent. Overall Growth rose again to 165.75, with 62.79 percent of our students meeting their individual math growth targets, a rate that ranks above 95 percent of comparable districts. Success-Ready Graduate rose from 130.77 to 142.30 to 155.03 out of 200, carried by a four-year cohort graduation rate that moved from 85.71 percent to 97.54 percent and by 58.91 percent of our graduates finishing with Merit or Distinction.The building-level results are the part I am most proud to share. Mena Middle School moved from a C to a B, from 441.82 to 503.71, a gain of nearly 62 points. Mena High School also moved from a C to a B, from 405.63 to 471.91, a gain of more than 66 points, with 61.48 percent of graduates earning Merit or Distinction. Our elementaries held their B grade to give us Bs across the board. Two schools moved up a full letter grade in the same year. That does not happen by accident, and it does not happen without great teaching and support.It is also worth saying plainly that the gains were not limited to one group of students. Every reported student group in our district improved its index score over last year. Our economically disadvantaged students, who made up 68.1 percent of our enrollment, improved from 459.68 to 500.89 and earned a B of their own, ranking above 87 percent of comparable districts. When a district’s gains show up across the board rather than in one corner, it usually means the instruction changed rather than the roster.There is more data about our school and other schools available in the AR Data Hub. Mena Middle School Is an Arkansas Gem SchoolSecretary of Education Jacob Oliva notified us this week that Mena Middle School has earned a 2026 Arkansas Gem School designation for Growth by Content Area in Mathematics. That designation goes to schools ranking in the top 10 percent statewide within their grade span for growth in a single subject. Out of every middle school in Arkansas, our math growth is in the top tier.The numbers behind it are worth seeing. At Mena Middle School, 74.06 percent of students met their math growth target. Middle school math achievement reached 61.78 percent scoring at levels 3 and 4, against a state middle school median of 44.50 percent. And among the students who start
- 1 weeks ago10 min
Week 5: Putting It on the Record
Before anything else, today marked twenty-five years since September 11, 2001. Patriot Day is not among the state's required instructional observances, so how the day was handled belonged to each of you, and I am grateful for the care you gave it. Every student in our buildings was born after that morning, which means the adults in our schools are the ones who remember it firsthand. A moment of silence, an honest answer to a student's question, or a word of thanks to a first responder or veteran in our community was enough. Our standards ask our students to know what happened. Our work is helping them understand why it still matters.Happy Friday!Five weeks in, the short week felt like we were moving from starting school to running with purpose and intent. Thank you for the work that got us here. Routines are settled enough now that instruction, not logistics, is what fills the day, and that shift is what makes the rest of the year possible. We are still working toward the same three targets: continued academic growth, daily attendance at or above 93.5 percent, and steady improvement in behavior and school climate. Attendance is the one I want on your mind this month, because September sets the pattern for the year. Every conversation with a family about getting a student here on time is a conversation about all three targets at once. Two items in this Wrap-up deserve your attention, and both come down to the same idea. Good work that is not documented is difficult to recognize, and requirements that are not planned for become last-minute scrambles. Leveling-Up means putting things on the record before the deadline arrives rather than after.Mena’s Merit Pay PathwayState growth scores will be released on September 17, and once they arrive, we will calculate local VAM scores using the process I presented to you before school started. Teachers who receive a state three-year growth average are automatically eligible for merit-pay consideration and do not need to do anything. Contracts for that group were already formed using the adopted index scale applied directly to the state growth measure. That is the straightforward half of the system.The other half is the reason we built a district pathway. A merit pay model should not reward only the teachers who happen to receive a state-generated score. Many of you influence student growth every day without teaching a directly tested course, and if merit pay were tied only to state VAM, opportunity would be uneven before the conversation ever began. Our District VAM and Educator Impact pathway exists to close that gap. It is equal opportunity, not lower standards, and I want to be honest that it is not the easier route. It asks for documentation, artifacts, and principal approval that the state pathway does not require.If you do not receive a state VAM score and you want to be considered, complete the Merit Pay Intent Declaration Form, sit down with your building principal to discuss it, and put your intent on record for the remainder of this school year. The form is linked in this Wrap-up so you can pull it up and get started today, and completed forms are due to your building principal by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, 2026.The form asks you to name one growth focus area in English Language Arts, mathematics, or science, explain how your course, program, intervention, or instructional role connects to growth in that area, identify the student outcomes and strategies you intend to use, name the students or groups through which your impact will be documented, and mark the evidence you will maintain in the Educator Effectiveness System. Your principal then reviews and signs it. Filing the form declares intent and begins the evidence process. It does not guarantee merit pay, because final eligibility still depends on growth data, documentation, and administrative review.What Our Social Studies Teachers Need on the CalendarArkansas released its 2026-2027 social studies instructional observances last week, and two of them arrive within days. Constitution Day falls on Thursday, September 17, and federal law requires every district to hold an educational program on the United States Constitution that day, commemorating the signing in 1787. Celebrate Freedom Week follows September 21 through 25, when state law directs every social studies class to include instruction on the freedoms we enjoy and the sacrifices that secured them. The state resources for both are organized as general K-12 materials, so our elementary teachers have something usable as
- 2 weeks ago16 min
Week 4: The Story Our Numbers Tell
Happy Friday!Thank you for another strong week of work. Four weeks in, the routines are holding, the hallways feel settled, and the instruction we are seeing in classrooms is purposeful. That is not a small thing in early September, and it is the direct result of the preparation each of you put in before the first bell ever rang. Every fall, our district compiles its Annual Report to the Public, a required accounting of our finances, student performance, personnel, and programs. We are in the final stages of building the 2026-2027 report right now, and I want you to see it before the community does. This report is full of robust data from last year and this current school year. Too often, a document like this becomes a compliance exercise filed away in a cabinet. Ours tells a story, and the story is a good one. This matters for our three performance targets, too. We are working toward continued academic growth, daily attendance at or above 93.5 percent, and steady improvement in behavior and school climate. The Annual Report is the evidence base underneath those targets. Leveling-Up is not only about what we intend to do this year. It is also about recognizing the ground we have already gained, because you cannot build confidently on a foundation you do not know you have.Careful Stewardship of Every DollarMena Public Schools spent $15,264 per student last year. The Arkansas average was $16,557. That means we educated our students on $1,293 less per child than the typical district in this state, and we did it while our academic indicators moved in the right direction.We want to be clear about what that number represents, because spending below the state average can be read two different ways. It does not mean we cut corners on students. It means we run a disciplined operation and push the savings back toward the classroom. Of that per-pupil total, $5,827 went to maintenance and operations, $4,852 to teacher salaries, $1,968 to debt, $1,084 to federal grants, $633 to transportation, $613 to academics, and $287 to student extracurricular activities. Our total state and local revenue for 2025-2026 came to $19,814,344, built primarily on $7,576,627 in local tax revenue and $8,385,659 in state foundation aid, with $900,483 arriving through the LEARNS teacher minimum salary funding and $593,978 in Enhanced Student Achievement dollars. Our community funds these schools generously, and we owe them careful management in return.You can see where that discipline goes. Last year alone the district re-paved the parking lots at Mena Middle School and Mena High School, resurfaced the track, upgraded our campus and bus communications system, purchased a new bus with a wheelchair lift, added safety features on every campus, adopted a new K-5 literacy curriculum, replaced teacher and student computers, installed new cafeteria equipment and new lighting controls in the Performing Arts Center, replaced carpet and baseboards, added ceiling-mounted side goals at UBC, added academic support staff, and built the bus loop awning at Louise Durham Elementary. None of that is glamorous. All of it matters to the person standing in front of students every day.Our Enhanced Student Achievement funds, which are tied to the number of students qualifying for free and reduced meals, went toward dyslexia instruction, school security, concurrent credit tuition, and transportation, communications, and logistics. With 62.3 percent of our students on free or reduced meal plans last year, those are the exact places where a rural district either supports its students or does not. State rules require us to spend 85 percent of that allocation each year, and we do more than that.Competitive grants have also made a significant impact across our district. Over the last two fiscal years, Mena Public Schools secured $167,800 through the Stronger Connections Grant, $167,800 through the State School Safety Grant, $178,500 for High Impact Tutoring, $31,148.25 for CTE Modernization, and $31,470 through the Phone Free Schools Grant. Federal programs have provided an additional $1.2 million for district personnel salaries and benefits, supporting certified staff and instructional aides who work directly with students. These funds also provided $12,089 for staff professional development, $34,751 for parental involvement programs, $73,786 for technology resources and internet safety programming, and $83,967 for classroom instructional supports and resources. Together, these investments allow us to add people, strengthen instruction, support families, improve safety, and provide opportunities for students beyond what local resources alone could provide.What the
- 3 weeks ago9 min
Week 3: Staying Connected, Staying Alert
Happy Friday!Thank you to our entire Mena Public Schools team for another strong week of collective effort toward our performance targets in academic growth, attendance, and behavior and climate. Three weeks into the year, our routines are taking hold in every classroom and in every hallway, and the relationships behind those routines are growing stronger by the day. That is what leveling up looks like in practice: not a single big change, but steady, daily progress that adds up. This week’s Wrap-up covers a change in how we communicate with families, an online safety concern every staff member needs to understand, two strong opportunities worth putting in front of our students, and a look back at a busy week of Bearcat and Ladycat activity.Transition From Rooms to ParentSquareI want to update everyone on a change to how we communicate with families. We have discontinued Rooms, the parent communication tool from Apptegy, because feedback from staff and families did not show it was strong enough to justify staying with it. We are transitioning to ParentSquare, which now includes the messaging technology behind Remind, a tool many of our teachers already use and trust. I will be honest that we are behind our original schedule on this rollout, but ParentSquare will be up and running district-wide in September.Once it is in place, ParentSquare will let us reach every family through the channel that works best for them, whether that is the app, text message, email, or even an automated voice call, and messages will translate automatically into a family’s preferred language. Families will be able to reply directly by text or email without needing to download anything, and we will be able to send forms, permission slips, and sign-ups through the same system. Teachers will also be able to schedule messages ahead of time and use templates to save time while keeping communication organized and visible at the building and district level.In the meantime, and even after ParentSquare is fully rolled out, I want to ask every teacher and building staff member not to rely on Facebook alone to get important information to families. Facebook is a wonderful way to celebrate our students and share good news, but not every parent sees it, and it should never be our only method for anything families truly need to know. Please continue to use paper notes home, email, phone calls, and other direct methods alongside social media and Thrillshare (contact Mark Hobson) so that no family misses information that matters to their child.A Serious Online Safety Concern: “764”For those who do not know already, the FBI has issued repeated warnings, including one specific to Arkansas from the Little Rock field office, about a decentralized online network known as “764” that targets minors through platforms our students use every day, including gaming apps, Discord, and social media. Predators build trust with a young person, then use blackmail and fear to coerce escalating and dangerous behavior, sometimes including self-harm. Federal investigators have already confirmed cases in Arkansas.Please treat this as a mandated-reporter issue. Warning signs include a student suddenly withdrawing or becoming secretive, fixation on or fear of a new online contact, unexplained gifts or gaming currency, or unexplained marks or injuries. If a student discloses anything that sounds like this, or you notice these signs, please report it immediately through our normal reporting channels. It can also be reported directly to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. It is far better that all of us over-report a false alarm than miss a student who needs help.Opportunities for Our StudentsA couple of strong opportunities are open right now and worth putting in front of the right students.America250, the organization Congress charged with leading the nation’s 250th anniversary commemoration, has opened a national startup competition for student innovators, and the window is open right now. Students submit a short written proposal and a brief pitch video explaining a business idea, why it matters, and how it could grow. Entries are due Thursday, October 8th. Ten finalists receive $25,000 each in grant funding that they do not have to give up equity for; the top three receive another $25,000, and the strongest 100 proposals earn an invitation into NVIDIA’s startup program. The contest is open to students currently enrolled at an accredited college, univers
- Aug 21, 20269 min
Week 2: Setting Our Benchmarks
Happy Friday!Thank you to every teacher, bus driver, custodian, food service worker, office staff member, paraprofessional, maintenance worker, administrator, tech team member, and volunteer for the dedication you showed throughout this second week. This week gave us the chance to move beyond the introductions and routines of the opening days. Now routines are taking hold, classrooms are settling into rhythm, and our campuses continue to hum with the kind of purposeful energy that comes from students and staff who are ready to work. Your steady effort in building relationships and reinforcing expectations this week is the foundation that makes everything else possible.Tracking Our Performance TargetsIf this is your first time reading this Wrap-up, welcome. Each week in the Wrap-up, we track three performance targets that guide our work as a district: continued academic growth, attendance at or above 93.5 percent, and steady improvement in behavior and school climate. These three measures are not just numbers on a page — they represent whether our students are learning, present, and supported, which is the whole of our mission in a sentence.Because we are beginning a brand-new school year, we are also starting our tracking over from zero. Last year’s totals do not carry forward; every week from here builds a fresh record for 2026-2027, and we will share our progress against these three targets regularly so everyone can see where we stand. In the coming days and weeks, our start-of-year assessments and screeners will begin returning results. Those results will give us our first academic benchmarks of the year, the starting line from which we will measure every bit of growth to come. These measures, along with the engaging teaching and learning we are already seeing, will help us keep a clear view of where we are and where we need to go. Building Improvement PlansEach of our buildings just submitted its 2026-2027 School Improvement Plan to the state, and I want every teacher and paraprofessional to be familiar with theirs. They are posted here on our district website. These plans are built using a Plan-Do-Check framework and cover the same core areas at every campus: Literacy, Math, Science, and Engagement (attendance, behavior, and family/community involvement). For each area, the plan lays out a SMART goal, the strategic objectives behind it, the specific instructional and intervention steps staff will carry out, and how progress will be monitored, whether through ATLAS interim data, common formative assessments, PLC reviews, or quarterly reports.These plans are not a compliance document to file away. They are our shared playbook for the year, connecting the goals we track in this Wrap-up to the day-to-day decisions happening in classrooms and PLCs, from how intervention groups are formed to what gets discussed at your next team meeting. Knowing your building’s plan helps you see how your classroom work connects to our schoolwide targets and gives you a head start on the data conversations, PD topics, and support structures you will see throughout the year. Building principals will be sharing your specific plan, and I would encourage you to read it closely and ask questions.High-Impact TutoringThis week, we submitted our application for the state’s High-Impact Tutoring Grant, a LEARNS Act program that helps districts fund during-school Math and ELA tutoring. Our proposal focuses on literacy support for grades K-2 and 6-11, pairing an experienced certified elementary teacher with our grades 6-11 literacy intervention tutor to provide up to 68 concurrent tutoring placements, three 30-minute sessions per week per student, built entirely into the school day without displacing core instruction. If awarded, this program would give many of our students exactly the kind of frequent, targeted support that helps early gaps close before they widen. We expect to hear back around September 1, and we are hopeful.For Our TeachersA few opportunities and reminders worth your attention this month:* Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is offering free K-12 learning experiences this school year, including free admission, transportation, and substitute reimbursement, and complimentary lunch for facilitated visits.* The Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators grants page maintains a running list of grant opportunities for classroom and school needs. A few with near-term windows include the ASTA Teacher Scholarship and Classroom Grants (up to $500, deadlines March 31 and October
- Aug 14, 202610 min
Week 1: Time to Level Up
Happy Friday!The first Friday of the 2026-2027 school year is here, and after another summer that felt like it passed in a blink, our campuses are once again filled with the energy that comes when students and staff return to Mena Public Schools. I want to sincerely thank every teacher, bus driver, custodian, food service worker, office employee, paraprofessional, maintenance team member, administrator, and volunteer whose preparation made this week possible. Your work behind the scenes over the summer set the tone for a smooth and successful start.This year, our performance targets remain the compass that guides our daily work: continued academic growth, attendance at or above 93.5 percent, and steady improvement in behavior and school climate. Everything we do in this Wrap-up, and throughout the year, will circle back to those three measures because they represent what matters most — students who are learning, present, and supported.It Is Time to Level-UpAs we begin the 2026-2027 school year, Mena Public Schools has chosen “Level-Up” as our district theme. The phrase is energetic and easy to remember, but our purpose goes well beyond a slogan. Level-Up means building on what is working, learning from what can be improved, and challenging ourselves to take the next step. It means helping every student grow from where he or she begins while continuing to raise expectations across our district.Leveling up will look different for every person. For a kindergarten student, it may mean developing confidence as a reader. For a middle school student, it may mean attempting a difficult problem without giving up. For a high school student, it may mean earning college credit, completing an industry-recognized credential, improving attendance, or making a plan for enrollment, employment, or enlistment. For our staff, it means continuing to collaborate, studying evidence, refining instruction, and building the relationships that make learning possible. You know… doing the small things that Jason Curry emphasized to make improvements, and building self-efficacy within our students and collective-efficacy among ourselves, as communicated to us by Jeana Williams.We will not define Level-Up as simply doing more this year. We will define it as doing the most important things with greater clarity, consistency, and purpose. We will celebrate progress without becoming satisfied, address challenges without losing confidence, and keep students at the center of every decision.A Strong Foundation to Build OnWe enter this year with good reason for confidence. Although Arkansas has not yet released the official 2025-2026 school report cards, our latest ATLAS results and independent statewide rankings point to meaningful academic progress.SchoolDigger’s 2026 rankings place Mena School District 45th among 251 Arkansas districts, an improvement of 28 positions from last year and ahead of approximately 82 percent of districts statewide. Mena Middle School rose 45 positions to rank 59th among 327 middle schools, while Mena High School climbed 51 positions to rank 71st among 293 high schools. Our mathematics results provide another reason to celebrate. Districtwide Algebra proficiency reached 57.4 percent, compared with 36.9 percent statewide, and Mena Middle School recorded 100 percent Algebra proficiency among the students tested. Holly Harshman Elementary also posted science proficiency of 54.8 percent. These results did not happen by accident. They grew from focused instruction, collaboration, careful use of assessment data, and the steady work that happens in classrooms every day.We are proud of these gains, but Level-Up also means being honest about the work ahead. A ranking is not a finish line, and a test score never tells the complete story of a student or a school. We will continue strengthening reading fluency, written reasoning, mathematical thinking, and students’ ability to work independently with challenging material, and we will use the official state report card, when it is released, to study our progress and identify where additional support is needed.Mena Morphology MattersThis year, we are also launching Mena Morphology Matters, a new K-12 districtwide word-learning initiative built on a simple but powerful idea: when students understand the building blocks of words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes, they gain the ability to unlock the meaning of hundreds, even thousands, of words they have never seen before.The program unites all four of our buildings, Louise Durham Elementary, Holly Harshman Elementary, Mena Middle School, and Mena High School, around one shared root each week. Every grade band studies the same theme with a developmentally appropriate
- May 22, 20262 min
Week 37: Celebrating a Strong Finish to the School Year
Happy Final Friday!Once again, thank you for all you have done to finish up a good week of school and a great school year! As we close out the school year, our district performance targets give us every reason to celebrate. We set meaningful goals in attendance, school climate, and academic growth, and together our students, staff, and families rose to the challenge in impressive ways.Showing Up and Finishing StrongOne of the brightest highlights of the year is that we exceeded our district attendance goal of 93.5% by finishing at 93.9%. This is the first time this has happened, and it is an outstanding accomplishment. It is definitely a reflection of the value our students, families, and staff place on being present, engaged, and ready to learn each day. A Meaningful Reduction in Discipline ReferralsWe also have much to celebrate in the area of school climate and student behavior. Our goal was to reduce discipline referrals by 10%, and we surpassed that goal with a 12.89% reduction, a strong sign that our schools are continuing to grow in positive culture, support, and student success.Growth Worth CelebratingAlong with these important gains, we are encouraged by the academic improvements we have seen this year in English Language Arts, math, and science. Our schools have stayed focused on student learning, and that steady progress reflects the dedication, expertise, and persistence of our teachers, staff, and students.Thank You for a Great YearThank you to everyone who made this school year such a success. As we wrap up Week 37, we do so with pride in what we have accomplished together, gratitude for the people who made it possible, and excitement about the momentum we are carrying forward.It was a good year of determination at Mena Public Schools.At Mena Public Schools, our students are prepared, our staff is supported, and our community is confident.Rest, recover, reflect, and have a great summer break! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bearcatwrap.substack.com
- May 15, 20267 min
Week 36: Turning the Tassels
Happy Friday!Thank you for the steady work, encouragement, and professionalism you continue to bring to Mena Public Schools each day. As we move through the final stretch of the school year, I want to say again how much I appreciate the focus you have kept on our performance targets, including student learning, attendance, and school climate. This time of year allows us to reflect on progress, celebrate important milestones, and help students finish strong with the support and expectations they need.This week’s theme, “Turning the Tassels,” captures more than a graduation tradition. It represents transition, accomplishment, and the kind of growth that happens when students are consistently supported by caring adults, clear systems, and meaningful opportunities. Graduation is one of the most visible reminders that the daily work happening in classrooms, offices, cafeterias, buses, and activity spaces truly matters.GraduationMena High School will celebrate the Class of 2026 at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, May 16, at Bob Carver Bearcat Stadium. Graduation is always a meaningful milestone, but it is especially powerful because it reflects years of steady growth, support, and shared investment from families, teachers, staff, and the larger Mena community.For many of these seniors, this journey began here many years ago as young children entering Kindergarten in Mena Public Schools. Others joined the Bearcat family somewhere along the way, and we are equally grateful for every student and family who became part of our district at any point in that journey. Whether they were here from the beginning or arrived later in their school life, we are proud to have walked beside them as they learned, matured, and prepared for what comes next.This moment connects directly to our district mission. Mena Public Schools exists to serve our community by instilling an individualized purpose in our students and staff, and graduation is one of the clearest examples of that mission becoming visible. As students cross the stage, we are seeing young people who have developed skills, discovered strengths, earned credentials, and grown in confidence through opportunities provided by both curriculum and community.Graduation also reflects our district vision that students and staff uplift one another and the community they serve. The Class of 2026 has been shaped not only by instruction but also by relationships, encouragement, accountability, and perseverance. Their story is a reminder that success is rarely a single moment; it is built over time through support, responsibility, and the willingness to keep moving forward through adversity. Graduation is one of those moments when we see that vision come to life, as students lift up their families, honor their teachers, and step forward ready to serve and strengthen our community or the communities they will enter.Our values are visible in this class as well. Service, accountability, relationships, growth, empowerment, and determination all matter in a moment like this because they help explain what students carry with them beyond graduation. Their accomplishments reflect more than credits earned or requirements completed. They reflect years of effort, learning from failure, accepting support, and growing into people who are better prepared to contribute to the world around them.This is why commencement means so much in Mena. It is not only a celebration of completion, but also a celebration of formation. It reflects the long arc of growth that begins in the early years, continues through every classroom and campus experience, and culminates in a moment when students quite literally turn the tassel and prepare to step into the future.America250 Freedom TruckWe are also excited to share a special opportunity for Arkansas schools, educators, students, and families this summer. The America250 Freedom Truck, a traveling interactive exhibit that highlights the history, ideals, and future of the United States, will be in North Little Rock from June 26 through June 29 as part of the Arkansas Folklife Festival.This immersive experience is designed to bring American history to life through engaging visuals, technology, and primary-source storytelling. It offers a meaningful extension for educators looking to connect civic learning and historical understanding to real-world experiences, and it would be a great opportunity for families and student groups looking for something educational and accessible during the summer months.The event is free and open to the public, and it is the kind of opportunity that aligns well with the work of helping students understand their place in the larger story of our country while building background knowledge, curiosity, and civic awareness. Additional information about the Freedom Truck can be found at freed
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