Maumelle Charter to play for state title
Maumelle Charter High School names top graduates; Academics Plus names Board appointments, officers plus sports and headlines
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MEETINGS: The North Little Rock City Council will meet next Tuesday night at City Hall. The meeting is delayed one day due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. The North Little Rock School Board will have a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight at the district’s administration building. For the agenda, click here. Both meetings will be livestreamed on YouTube and the public is invited to both.
EVENTS: This coming Monday is Memorial Day and a good time to reflect on what’s come before. Maumelle will again be hosting an event at the war memorial at Lake Willastein. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and in case of inclement weather, it will be held at the Jess Odom Center. As is the case with every holiday, trash and recycling will one-day delayed next week and the various governmental offices will be closed on Monday.
Graduation season
Graduation season is nearly complete as Maumelle Charter, Central Arkansas Christian and North Little Rock high schools have all successfully pulled off commencements.
Maumelle High School is all that’s left and they will be having graduation ceremonies at the Jack Stephens Center and the time slot is 1:30 p.m. this Saturday, May 23.
It is one of four graduation ceremonies for the high schools in the Pulaski County Special School District with the others being:
Sylvan Hills, 6:30 p.m., Friday, May 22
Mills, 9 a.m., Saturday, May 23
Joe T. Robinson, 5:30 p.m., Saturday, May 23
For more information or to watch the PCSSD graduation ceremonies the day of, click here.
Maumelle Charter to play for state title
School might be over but Maumelle Charter is still playing as the Lady Falcons are headed to the Class 3A girls state championship match at Hot Springs Lakeside at 2 p.m. this Friday.
Maumelle Charter is 18-2-2 on the season and coached by Mateo Johnson.
It is rarefied air for Maumelle Charter as the school is making its first ever state finals appearance in any sport and titles have been hard to come by for Maumelle schools in general, with Central Arkansas Christian excepted.
Maumelle’s Lady Hornets lost in the state finals in girls soccer in 2014 and 2017, while also having lost state championship game appearances in baseball and boys basketball. Wrestling has been a bright spot with back-to-back team titles in 2013 and 2014.
CAC, however, has been a legit powerhouse with nine state titles in girls soccer and four runners-up.
Maumelle Charter enters the title match with an 18-2-2 overall record with losses to CAC on March 10 and Episcpal Collegiate on April 17. There were also draws to Thaden in the season opener on March 3 and then another draw to Baptist Prep on May 1.
Maumelle Charter avenged that first draw to Thaden by beating them 3-2 on penalty kicks in the state semifinals after battling to 1-1 draw.
The win set off a wild celebration by the Lady Falcons, pictured below.
The reward was a state title appearance against Lifeway Christian, out of Centerton in northwest Arkansas, and they’re 15-5 overall and second in their conference to Thaden, who beat them twice during the regular season.
The match will be streamed on the NFHS Network for those unable to attend.
Centennial Bank State Soccer Championships schedule
Friday
10 a.m.: 6A Boys: Har-Ber vs Bentonville
Noon: 6A Girls: Bentonville West vs Mt. St. Mary
2 p.m.: 3A Girls: Life Way Christian vs Maumelle Charter
4 p.m.: 4A Girls: Robinson vs Brookland
Saturday
10 a.m.: 5A Girls: Russellville vs Searcy
Noon: 5A Boys: Siloam Springs vs El Dorado
2 p.m.: 3A Boys: Decatur vs Episcopal Collegiate
4 p.m.: 4A Boys: De Queen vs Nashville
Maumelle Charter roster
# ... Players ... Pos. … Class
0 ... Myriah May ... W ... Jr.
1 ... Mallie Smith ... W ... So.
3 ... Rileigh McClendon ... Mid ... So.
5 ... Katelyn Hill ... F ... Sr.
7 ... Brooklyn Lampe ... Mid ... Fr.
8 ... Julianne Wnek ... W ... Fr.
9 ... Ava bella Van noy ... D ... Fr.
10 ... Serena Johnson ... D ... Sr.
11 ... Olivia Williamson ... D ... Fr.
12 ... Barrett Welker ... D ... Mid ... Sr.
13 ... Emorie Reeves ... F ... Fr.
15 ... Ryley Mayden ... G ... Jr.
16 ... Ariana Gonzalez ... Mid ... So.
17 ... Ashley Coker ... G ... Fr.
20 ... Hannah Clark ... D ... Jr
22 ... Katherine Sanders ... Mid ... Fr.
23 ... Jenna Evans ... D ... Fr.
26 ... Mallory Barton ... Mid ... So.
Lynlee Rawe ... Sr.
Serena McLennan ... Sr.
Juliana MillerJuliana Miller ... Sr.
Michelle BaezaMichelle Baeza ... Jr.
Baseball, softball state championships broadcast live on Arkansas TV
The state finals in high school baseball and softball are set and those games will again be televised by Arkansas TV.
Action starts today from Majestic Park in Hot Springs with the games concluding on Saturday, weather permitting.
The broadcast schedule is :
2A Baseball – Woodlawn vs. Palestine-Wheatley – Today at 10 a.m.
2A Softball – Tuckerman vs. Woodlawn – Today at 1 p.m.
3A Baseball – Haskell Harmony Grove vs. Ashdown– Today at 4 p.m.
3A Softball – DeWitt vs. Harding Academy – Today at 7 p.m.
4A Softball – Warren vs. Monticello – Friday at 10 a.m.
4A Baseball – Brookland vs. Pulaski Academy – Friday at 1 p.m.
6A Softball – Bentonville vs. Har-Ber – Friday at 4 p.m.
6A Baseball – Har-Ber vs. Bryant – Friday at 7 p.m.
1A Baseball – Mt. Ida vs. Taylor – Saturday at 10 a.m.
1A Softball – Taylor vs. Scranton – Saturday at 1 p.m.
5A Baseball – Benton vs. Valley View – Saturday at 4 p.m.
5A Softball – Farmington vs. Benton – Saturday at 7 p.m.
Stats from the baseball and softball championship games will be available at aaaweekendofchampions.gamedaypreps.com/.
Funding for Arkansas TV Sports is provided by the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Image One and the University of Central Arkansas.
Arkansas TV also recognizes AAA’s sponsors for the state high school basketball finals, including Centennial Bank, Arkansas Farm Bureau and Everett Buick GMC.
Maumelle Charter High School names top graduates
Maumelle Charter High School announced Carter Martin as valedictorian and Taylor Jamison as salutatorian for the Class of 2026.
Martin has attended Academics Plus Charter Schools since first grade and has been involved in Beta Club, National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Students and tennis. He earned $166,000 in scholarship offers and plans to attend the University of Arkansas to study engineering. He is the son of Keith and Beth Martin of Maumelle.
Jamison, above, has attended Academics Plus Charter Schools since kindergarten and has served as varsity cheer co-captain and participated in band, Student Government Association, Beta Club, National Honor Society, and Model United Nations. She earned $625,000 in scholarship offers and plans to attend the University of Arkansas to study information systems. She is the daughter of Antonio and Tyneshia Jamison of Mayflower.
Academics Plus names Board appointments, officers
The Academics Plus Charter Schools Board of Trustees has appointed two new board members and reappointed three members.
Dr. Meredith Brunen and Mae Wilder were newly appointed to the board. J.D. Lowery, Neal Moore and Daren Sweat were reappointed for three-year terms.
Brunen, above, with over two decades of experience in higher education executive leadership, is a Senior Consultant with Gonser Gerber. She earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Arkansas. She and her husband, Kyle, have two sons, Beau, a rising sixth grader, and Jude, a rising seventh grader, at Maumelle Charter Middle School. Brunen will serve a two-year term.
Wilder, above, is a strategic energy management consultant with CLEAResult and earned a bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and a master’s degree from Amberton University in Garland, Texas. She and her husband, Mason, have a daughter, Luna, a rising fourth grader at Maumelle Charter Elementary School and Stellan, a one-year-old future Falcon. Wilder will serve a one-year term.
The board also elected officers for the upcoming year: Adria Conklin, chair; J.D. Lowery, vice chair; Daren Sweat, secretary; and Sean Hagen, treasurer.
Academics Plus Charter Schools includes Maumelle Charter High School, Maumelle Charter Middle School. Maumelle Charter Elementary School and Scott Charter School.
Arkansas Boys State to welcome 580 students from 200 high schools
Arkansas Boys State will welcome 580 young men from 200 high schools across the state to its 85th summer session, held next week, May 24-29, at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Sponsored by the American Legion, the weeklong leadership and civic engagement experience invites male high school juniors to learn how democracy works by building a mock government from the ground up.
Among the 580 young men are the following local students representing their community and school are the following North of the River students:
David Webster of North Little Rock from CAC
Javion Dotson of Maumelle from Maumelle High School
Curtis Hardaway of Maumelle from Maumelle High School
Ashton Shelton of Maumelle from Maumelle High School
McConnell Robertson of Sherwood from Little Rock Catholic
Tyler Brooks of North Little Rock from Scott Charter School
Preston Goode of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Connley Kemp of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Cole Mendoza of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Lukuz Rodriguez of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Jonah Fuller of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Dallas Quast of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Braeden Perkins of Maumelle from Maumelle Charter High School
Mitchell Knox of North Little Rock from eStem High School
Walter Wenger of North Little Rock from North Little Rock CofE
Santy Solares-Vazquez of North Little Rock from North Little Rock CofE
Austin Sartain of North Little Rock from North Little Rock High School
Luka Torres of Sherwood from North Little Rock High School
Mandrell Howell Jr. of Sherwood from Sylvan Hills High School
Aj Reyes of Sherwood from Sylvan Hills High School
Spencer Bryant of North Little Rock from Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
James Galloway of Maumelle from Little Rock Christian
Evan Dziadek of Maumelle from Little Rock Christian
Trey Dodson of Maumelle from Little Rock Christian
Demetrius Battle of North Little Rock from Joe T. Robinson High School
Jalil Jeanpierre of Sherwood from Lisa Academy North High School
Ian Parrett of Sherwood from Conway Christian High School
Quaid Hairston of Sherwood from Little Rock Central
Ben Robinson of North Little Rock from Little Rock Central
During the week, these local students will be assigned to a political party, city and county. Working alongside other delegates, they will help build a mock government from the ground up by running for office, drafting and debating legislation, addressing community challenges and engaging with constituents. The program’s guiding principle, “Democracy Depends on Me,” encourages students to understand civic responsibility not as an abstract idea, but as something they practice firsthand.
“Arkansas Boys State is designed for young men who are ready to step forward, challenge themselves and think deeply about how they can serve their communities,” said Lloyd Jackson, executive director of Arkansas Boys State. “The nomination of these students reflects the confidence others have in their character, leadership potential and commitment to making a difference.”
In addition to the government simulation, delegates participate in leadership discussions, real-world instructional tracks, recreation, political rallies, keynote lectures and question-and-answer sessions with business, civic, political and social leaders. Students also experience college life by living in residence halls, eating in campus dining facilities and taking part in a full schedule of activities throughout the week.
“Students leave Arkansas Boys State with more than a stronger understanding of government,” Jackson said. “They leave with new friendships, greater confidence in communicating their views and a deeper sense of responsibility to lead for the common good. We are excited for these students to be part of this life-changing experience as they represent their schools and communities.”
Arkansas Boys State has developed more than 60,000 alumni since its founding in 1940, including local, state, national and international leaders. Past participants include President Bill Clinton, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former White House Chiefs of Staff Mack McLarty and Jack Watson Jr., U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman, and Arkansas Chief Justice John Dan Kemp.
These local students will be guided by more than 70 volunteer staff members from across the country who return each summer to mentor and support Arkansas Boys State students. The volunteer staff includes college students and professionals with experience in education, public service, business, law, journalism, government and other fields.
More information about Arkansas Boys State is available at arboysstate.org.
Sports
Upcoming Travs games
Six-game homestand against Springfield
Today, 6:35 p.m.
$3 Thursday: Enjoy an amazing value for the whole family and the best patio in Central Arkansas! Get $3 General Admission or Beer Garden tickets at a WinChoice Box Office Window. Plus, feed the whole crew for less with select concession items for $3 each!
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Fireworks Friday: Presented By Bank OZK
Saturday, 6:35 p.m.
Cal Raleigh Bobblecard Giveaway: Presented By Hardee’s | First 1,000 Fans (one item per person)
Post-Game Fireworks
Sunday, 6:05 p.m.
Post-Game Fireworks
Baseball BINGO: Presented By Arkansas Brighter Future 529
Operation: Military Appreciation: Service Members get $3 off General Admission and Field Reserved tickets by presenting a Military ID (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window) | Presented By Mid-South Ford Dealers
Six-game homestand against Frisco
Tuesday, May 26, 6:35 p.m.
Dog Day: Human fans can get $3 Berm tickets by bringing their dog to the game (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window). NOTE: Dogs are only allowed in the Berm areas | Presented By Hollywood Feed
Wednesday, May 27, 6:35 p.m.
Dog Day: Human fans can get $3 Berm tickets by bringing their dog to the game (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window). NOTE: Dogs are only allowed in the Berm areas | Presented By Hollywood Feed
Thursday, May 28, 6:35 p.m.
$3 Thursday: Enjoy an amazing value for the whole family and the best patio in Central Arkansas! Get $3 General Admission or Beer Garden tickets at a WinChoice Box Office Window. Plus, feed the whole crew for less with select concession items for $3 each!
Singles Night: Let the Travs help turn a single into a double! Join us at the ballpark for a pre-game “Singles Mingle” event.
Friday, May 29, 7:05 p.m.
Fireworks Friday: Presented By Baldwin & Shell Construction
Saturday, May 30, 6:05 p.m.
Faith & Family Night: The perfect night for a church group outing! | Presented By Hickingbotham Investments
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
Sunday, May 31, 1:35 p.m.
Fiesta de Diamantes: The Travs will take the field as the Diamantes de Arkansas in salute of Hispanic Heritage!
Kids Baseball Clinic: Kids 13 and under are invited to join Travs players on field for a baseball clinic starting at noon! Instruction will last approximately 45 minutes. | Presented By Arkansas Brighter Future 529
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
Baseball BINGO: Presented By Arkansas Brighter Future 529
Operation: Military Appreciation: Service Members get $3 off General Admission and Field Reserved tickets by presenting a Military ID (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window) | Presented By Mid-South Ford Dealers
Family Sunday Deal: Get $3 General Admission tickets by presenting a physical or digital church bulletin (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window).
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