Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Area Students In SAU Play

Area high school students will take part in Southern Arkansas University's 'Play a Little; Act a Lot' this summer in Magnolia.

While it's not all fun and play, 28 high school students in grades 10-12 will be taking part in the Academic Endowment for Gifted in Summer (AEGIS) program, which will be cosponsored by SAU and Waldo Public Schools.

SAU and Waldo recently received a grant award of $19,600 from the Arkansas Department of Education for the program, which will be held from June 20 through July 3.

Students involved in the program will find themselves in an intensive study of drama, music and visual arts. The students will work together as a team during the two weeks of exciting study of arts, leading to a final stage production of Kiss Me Kate in SAU's Harton Theater.

Dr. Mary Hamilton, associate professor of education at SAU, is the project director. She has designed and directed nine previous AEGIS programs.

Laurie Hicks, a visual arts instructor at Waldo Schools, will serve as production director. Josh Jones, a drama and English teacher at Waldo High School, will serve as drama director.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors in Arkansas who are interested in theater and music should contact their high school counselor or gifted/talented teacher for AEGIS applications. Participants will be identified as gifted/talented, but do not have to be enrolled in the gifted/talented program at their high schools.

For more information on the AEGIS program at SAU this summer, call (870)235- 4186.