Boys State in full swing
Letter from Paris; Ziller, Altom honored by PCSSD and more Education News plus sports and headlines.
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MEETINGS: The Maumelle City Council will meet next Monday night at City Hall.
EVENTS: Maumelle Summer Kickoff is this Friday, May 30, at Lake Willastein. The event will feature children’s activities as well as food trucks selling their wares. And while it doesn’t seem warm enough, yet, school’s out for summer, so that’s good enough. On Saturday, the Arkansas Travelers will be hosting their annual Faith and Family night, which seems like it has been the church bulletin for weeks, but there’s been a change. Arkansas gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber won’t be able to make it, but filling in is former Oak Grove, Arkansas and NFL running back Darren McFadden, above. Technically, McFadden was more a wildcat quarterback for the Hornets when he roamed Bobby Tiner Stadium back in the day, but he’s better known for his time as a Hog. The moderated Q&A session with McFadden will begin at 4:45 p.m. and well before first pitch. During the game, he’ll be on the concourse for a limited time to take photos and meet with fans. North Little Rock is hosting two different events of note this Friday and for more, click on the flyers below.
Boys State in full swing
Arkansas Boys State is in full swing, bouncing back and forth between host campus UCA in Conway and the state capital in Little Rock.
The event, with more than 600 rising Arkansas high school seniors, has been having elections for various posts and while it isn’t complete, A multitude of North of the River students won their campaigns for office.
They are:
Wyatt Smith of Maumelle was elected State Representative
Khollin Franklin of Maumelle was elected State Representative
Beckham Branham of Maumelle was elected State Representative
Aaron Withers of Sherwood was elected State Representative
Owen Walker of Sherwood was elected State Representative
Nathan Zukowski of North Little Rock was elected State Representative
Kaden Larkins of North Little Rock was elected State Representative
Win Milholland of Sherwood was elected State Senator
DJ Tidwell of North Little Rock was elected Justice of the Peace 5 in Carvell County
Jaiden Bridgers of Sherwood was elected Justice of the Peace 6 in Rooks County
Nathan Zukowski of North Little Rock was elected City Council Position 2 in Lovell City
Beckham Branham of Maumelle was elected City Council Position 2 in Rorex City
Joel Jefferson of Maumelle was elected Mayor in Partee City
Owen Walker of Sherwood was elected City Council Position 5 in Cantrell City
"Being elected to the House or Senate is quite the special opportunity for these students," said David Saterfield, director of instruction for Arkansas Boys State. "They'll get an up-close and personal look at the legislative process with their own state legislators leading them through the process."
On Wednesday, these students met with Arkansas legislators to learn more about the legislative branch and process. As part of their meeting, these students will join their fellow Arkansas Boys State senators and representatives in creating mock legislation that they will debate and vote upon at the state capitol on Friday.
"I'm excited to see what ideas the Arkansas Boys State 2025 legislators bring to the House and Senate floors on Friday," Saterfield said. "I hope these Arkansas Boys State legislators take it all in when they're at the Capitol. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
These students join more than 600 students from throughout the state attending Arkansas Boys State at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Students are mock citizens in eight different counties and congressional districts, sixteen cities, and two political parties.
Tuesday at Arkansas Boys State also welcomed the beginning of campaigning for statewide office, including the office of Governor.
During their week at Arkansas Boys State, delegates are assigned a political party, city, and county. Throughout the week, delegates, from the ground up, administer this mock government as if it were real: they run for office, draft and pass legislation, solve municipal challenges, and engage constituents. By the week's end, the delegates have experienced civic responsibility and engagement firsthand while making life-long memories and friends - all with our guiding principle that "Democracy Depends on Me."
Boys State concludes on Friday, May 30.
Letter from Paris
PARIS – This here is where words are supposed to be from the recent trip to Paris and Amsterdam, and I will get around to it, eventually.
I started hacking away at it while in Paris, but the combination of jet lag and the thrill of being there made writing difficult.
Then I took another swing at it, but I’ve been having trouble taking a massive jumble of thoughts and feelings and experiences and putting them into words.
If you haven’t been to Paris, go, and you might understand such troubles.
What a thrilling, exhilarating experience. There’s a reason why it is called “the best city in the world,” because, maybe, it is.
I don’t know. This jaunt was my first trip to Europe, and we didn’t make it to London, or Berlin, or Rome, or Athens, the other continental contenders.
As for here, I’ve managed to make it to all the major American cities, sans Houston, and for my money, Paris was better than New York or L.A. or — and this is hard to write — Chicago.
What’s wild about Paris, at least to me, is we could go back, spend another six nights, but stay in a different part of the city, and do an entirely different set of tourist attractions and restaurants and not repeat a single thing, and have a fabulous time.
We could then do that again, and not repeat a thing, for another week. And so forth.
Paris feels like a place where you could keep doing that over and over again and have the best time.
One final note, because they didn’t send a poet, we were blessed to have near perfect weather this trip. It was so extraordinary, even the locals said over and over again how lucky we were for that.
Lewis Grizzard, the late, great humorist and columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, once published a column’s worth of white space because he couldn’t come up with words after a Georgia loss, and I’m going to borrow that, but with a twist.
Where the words should be, are some photos from the trip. Mostly taken by my wife, who is a better photographer than I.
Education News
Ziller, Altom honored by PCSSD
On May 15, the Pulaski County Special School District celebrated its district-level support staff and teacher of the year at the inaugural Evening of Excellence event. This is the fifth year the District has participated in the annual Arkansas Department of Education’s (ADE) Teacher of the Year program and the first time the District has recognized support staff.
Through a rigorous selection process, each of PCSSD’s schools and district offices selected one educator and one support staff as their building-level winners of the year.
The District hosted their evening event to recognize the school winners and announce the PCSSD Teacher and Staff of the Year. The 2024-2025 PCSSD Teacher of the Year is Catherine Ziller, 8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher at Robinson Middle. Reid Altom, Speech Language Pathologist at Crystal Hill Elementary, is the 2024-2025 PCSSD Support Staff of the Year.
Ziller's passion for education began at a young age when she'd help her stepmom grade papers. From there, she excelled as a student, graduating third in her class at Mount St. Mary Academy. She continues to excel in the classroom as an 8th grade English teacher at Robinson Middle. In just her third year, she was named the ELA department chair and she is currently pursuing her masters degree in education with a 4.0 GPA.
Ziller has worked tirelessly to engage her students and support her school community since joining the Robinson Middle team in the 20-21 school year. From transforming her classroom to deepen her students’ experience with their current unit, to attending her students extracurricular activities and making 200 friendship bracelets at open house, Ziller’s impact starts during school hours but goes far beyond the classroom. She even volunteered her nights and weekends to create the Robinson Middle Yearbook program.
Ziller was selected out of 26 other PCSSD school-level winners and will now move on to represent the District in the 2026 Arkansas Teacher of the Year Program. Previous PCSSD teacher of the year winners were also present, Shannon Hum (2020-21), Bokari Williams (2021-22), Ben Light (2022-23) and Jeanie Wilcoxon (2024-25), the 2025 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
PCSSD followed the Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Teacher of the Year guidelines, including the teacher’s impact on school culture, leadership in and out of the classroom, and student connections. The winners for all schools can be found in our initial announcement.
For the first time, PCSSD is excited to recognize support staff for their hard work and dedication given to each school within the District. PCSSD’s inaugural district-level winner is Reid Altom, Speech Language Pathologist at Crystal Hill Elementary.
Altom started working for PCSSD in 1997, but that wasn’t always the plan. After graduate school, his sights were set on a clinical placement. Yet his final semester, a school-age internship at two PCSSD schools, changed his career trajectory. “Working with these students and connecting with their families sparked something in me that I hadn’t experienced in clinical placements,” said Altom. “Helping children find ways to communicate within their school and community settings gave me a deeper sense of purpose. Each time I saw a student being able to communicate better with peers and family members gave me a glimpse of the immediate and lasting impact of our work on students' daily lives. I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”
Crystal Hill Principal, Lisa Smith shares Altom’s impact to his students and the school community. “What makes Reid exceptional is not just his technical skill as a speech-language pathologist, but the way he makes every child feel seen, heard, and valued. Mr. Altom has an extraordinary ability to connect with students, empowering them to find their voice both literally and figuratively. When you walk into one of his speech sessions, you immediately feel the warmth, patience, and purpose he brings to his work.”
During his time with the District, Altom has worked with every grade level from pre-K to high school. Beyond his work, Altom has led professional development as a certified Crisis Prevention Intervention instructor to train PCSSD employees to identify early signs of escalation and respond effectively. He was also instrumental in the creation of The Hive, a sensory calm-down space at Crystal Hill.
PCSSD give Inspiration in Education Award
The Pulaski County Special School District awarded the final Inspiration in Education award for the 2024-2025 school year at the May Board of Education meeting on May 13.
Jimmy Hogg, director of technology for PCSSD, is the winner of the fourth quarter award.
Nearly 30 people were nominated, some receiving multiple nominations, for this quarter’s award. Hogg received six nominations from his colleagues in the IT department, all who spoke very highly of their years working with him.
“Jimmy is one of the most loyal people you’ll ever meet,” said Scott Young, IT project manager for PCSSD (and incumbent Director of Technology). “His commitment hasn’t wavered; and year after year, he’s put others before himself. He steps up before he’s asked, says “yes” without hesitation, and solves problems without seeking praise.”
Hogg will retire from the District at the end of the 2024-2025 school year after working in the technology department for 28 years. He started with PCSSD as one of three network technicians before transitioning to a supervisor and then manager of a team of field and network technicians. After nearly three decades in one place, Hogg developed strong relationships with his IT team.
The Board of Education created the Inspiration in Education award to honor certified and support staff members who are inspirational to their students or colleagues in their roles at PCSSD. Additionally, the award recognizes employees who exhibit traits including leadership, mentoring, dedication, excellence and effectiveness in their places of work.
The Inspiration in Education award is presented to the winner quarterly in October, December, March and May. Anyone may nominate a PCSSD employee for the award. The applications are reviewed by the Superintendent's Cabinet for ranking, and the highest scorer is named the quarterly winner and receives the award from the PCSSD Board of Education.
Upcoming Travs games
San Antonio Missions, six-game homestand
Thursday, 6:35 p.m.
Operation: Military Appreciation: $3 Thursday, Enjoy $3 Beer Garden Tickets and select Concessions deals!
Fiesta de Diamantes: The Travs will take the field as the Diamantes de Arkansas in salute of Hispanic Heritage! | Presented By Modelo Especial
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Fireworks Friday - Mashup Madness: End your week at DSP with a BANG!
Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
Faith & Family Night: The perfect night for a church (or gymnastics) group outing! Come enjoy a pre-game talk with
Olympian and Razorbacks Gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber,Darren McFadden, who will also be available during the game to meet & greet with fans. | Presented By Hickingbotham InvestmentsKids Run the Bases: Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game! | Presented By First Community Bank
Sunday, 1:35 p.m.
Operation: Military Appreciation: Service Members get $3 off General Admission and Field Reserved tickets by presenting a Military ID (only available at DSP Box Office) | Presented By Mid-South Ford Dealers
Kids Baseball Clinic: Kids 13 and under are invited to join Travs players on field for a baseball clinic starting at noon!
Kids Run the Bases: Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game! | Presented By First Community Bank
At Corpus Christi, June 3-8
Health
Pandemic deaths unknown
The state Department of Health didn’t update the state’s dashboard this week, again, and deaths still total 532 for the past year. There’s no tab created for 2025 either and the virus has now killed 14,162 Arkansans since the pandemic began then. That would mean the pandemic death toll has now passed Marion’s 13,635 people, the state’s 29th largest city.
Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.
If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:
Get vaccinated
Get boosted
Wear a mask
Avoid crowds