FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A project initiated by the Brown Chair in English Literacy called SISTA — Students Involved in Sustaining Their Arkansas — now entering its third year, involves high school students throughout Arkansas in projects that promise to revitalize their home towns and regions.       

Ninth-grader LaNyce Hemphill of Ashdown offers a clear example of how SISTA works. In 2016, the Little River County Training School buildings in Ashdown were recognized as a National Historic District. An important landmark for the community, between the late 1800s and the 1960s the original buildings served as the first school for African American students. After a fire destroyed these buildings, new ones to house the Training School, by then desegregated, were constructed between 1962 and 1965. In 1979, the school was moved again to a new set of buildings. Now, nearly six decades later, the 1960s-vintage Training School is in need of repair.

When LaNyce sees the Training School, she sees a place where an after-school program could benefit students in Ashdown — she sees a movie theater, a basketball court, and a place students can do their homework.

LaNyce is one of six students, called SISTA Fellows, conducting research and writing grant proposals for their projects during the 2017-18 school year. In addition to LaNyce, SISTA is working with students from Armorel and Manila, AR, on three other projects.

Kylee DeWitt, Hannah Hopper and CJ Simmons are working on a proposal for a community recycling program for Armorel centered at their high school. Kylee, Hannah, and CJ plan to apply for a grant to employ students with disabilities and work with an organization called Abilities Unlimited.

In Manila, Grant Wilkins is writing a proposal for a new way to use Arduino, a computer board provided by the Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Initiative, as an automatic watering system. Sydney Adcock, another Manila student, is writing a proposal to revitalize the park in Manila by replacing broken equipment and obtaining more lighting for the space.

This year's cadre of SISTA fellows visited the University of Arkansas recently to consult with faculty and graduate students whose research intersects with the topics of their projects.  The SISTA fellows also had the opportunity to work with tutors in the Walton College Communication Center on their writing.

Julia Paganelli Marin, a student in the Department of English's Program in Creative Writing and Translation, directs SISTA in collaboration with its founder, David Jolliffe, professor of English in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and initial occupant of the Brown Chair in English Literacy.  

Contact Julia Paganelli-Marin at jpaganel@uark.edu or David A Jolliffe at djollif@uark.edu) or 479-575-2289 for more information.