UA Little Rock Celebrates 30 Years of Advanced Placement Summer Institutes
UA Little Rock celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI) with a July 23 luncheon that was attended by more than 200 teachers taking part in UA Little Rock’s third APSI session of summer 2024.
Special guests included Bill Stovall III, former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Jodie Mahony III, son of the late Sen. Jodie Mahony II, and representatives of the Arkansas Department of Education. Stovall described Mahony as a fierce defender of education.
“Over the years, he was so relentless as we worked on education,” Stovall said. “After he passed advanced placement, he was a protector of it. He was always the one that fiercely defended advancement placement. The last opportunity I had to speak to Jodie was the day before Thanksgiving 2009, not knowing that I wouldn’t get to speak to him again. I learned a great deal from Jodie. I considered him a friend, and he was a unique character for sure.”
UA Little Rock’s Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education is named after the late Jodie Mahony II, a longtime member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate who championed many improvements in public education. Sen. Mahony was pivotal in establishing ACT 881, which established the Arkansas Advanced Placement Incentive Program Act.
“Thirty years ago, Jodie Mahony II considered it an emergency that teachers did not have training for the College Board Advanced Placement courses,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center, one of only 20 centers in the U.S.. The history of Jodie Mahony II and advanced placement in Arkansas is rich and lengthy. He believed in rigorous education for students and in supporting teachers to provide it.”
The AP program from College Board gives high school students the opportunity to pursue college-level studies and to receive advanced placement and/or credit upon entering university, along with an appropriate score on an AP exam, thereby saving Arkansas families time and money on college.
“The 30th anniversary celebrates an important milestone: recognizing what has been at the core of every Advanced Placement Summer Institute for 30 years,” said Lori Delk, advanced placement professional development associate. “That is bringing together teachers from around the state to get the best training they can receive in teaching AP courses, and thereby raising the level of rigor in Arkansas classrooms.”
This summer, UA Little Rock hosted more than 750 teachers during three sessions in June and July. These included 545 Arkansas public and charter school teachers, 11 private school teachers, and 198 teachers from out of state. AP classes covered English Language, English Literature, Calculus, U.S. History, World History, Human Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, Computer Science, Psychology, European History, Art and Design, Physics, Spanish, Environmental Science, and U.S. Government.
“We feel so fortunate to work with our esteemed colleagues in the Jodie Mahony Center and support gifted education in Arkansas,” said Dr. Rachel Eells, Windgate Foundation Endowed Director of the School of Education at UA Little Rock. “Thank you to all our educators for lending your expertise to high schoolers and committing to lifelong learning, building intellectual capital in your community, and challenging your students and yourselves. Thank you for taking some time to make yourself a better learner so your students will become better learners.”
In the past 15 years, the UA Little Rock Advanced Placement Summer Institute has trained more than 12,000 teachers. During the week, consultants serve as summer institute faculty, sharing best teaching practices for instructing high school students who are taking advanced placement courses. The training includes 30 hours of instruction, and participating teachers receive professional development credit for their work.
The AP Summer Institute is supported by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education. The grant enables UA Little Rock to provide Arkansas public school teachers who teach AP with funding to cover the cost of registration.
