Crossing Over Into The Founder's Circle

REPRESENTING THE CCHS EAST FOUNDER’S TEAM:

Bo Cook: 10th Grade, 4 Years in EAST

Ciara Stephens: 10th Grade, 4 Years in EAST

Joseph Harvey: 12th Grade, 1 Year in EAST

Macie McCommon: 10th Grade, 4 Years in EAST

Lexi Jarrett: 10th Grade, 4 Years in EAST

For EAST at Cross County High School, winning the Founder’s Award felt like the culmination of years of growth. After being a Founder’s finalist in 2020 and winning a Cornerstone Award in 2021, this year was finally the time for the Cherry Valley school to enter the Founder’s Circle alongside two other Northeast Arkansas schools.

What was your reaction when you learned Cross County won Founders?

Bo: At the beginning of this year, our EAST Facilitator Mr. Blake said, “We can win Founder’s this year, guys.” I knew the amazing projects we did for our community and how we made an impact in several individual lives, but for us to win the biggest award for EAST, seemed almost impossible. When the day came for the announcement, my EAST class gathered around a big table, eager to hear our names called for the award. Then, the internet went off. If I recall correctly, my thought was, I guess that means we didn’t win. However, with a few clicks on her phone, Ciara pulled up the livestream, and I heard our school was announced as Founder’s Winner. I was overwhelmed with excitement and a headache from Joseph shouting, “WE DID IT!”

When you nominated yourselves for Founders this year, why did you think your program was a great choice to win?

Ciara: I think something that stands out about our program and made it worthy of winning Founder’s is how interconnected everyone is. It is an amazing working environment because if anyone ever has trouble in something, there is likely always someone who can help them. Every time someone wants to start learning something new, they are always pointed to someone who can help if there is anyone in our program experienced with that thing. We are all pushing each other to be the most successful versions of ourselves, and that is what makes us unique.

What was your favorite project this year and why?

Joseph: My favorite project this year was Terry T-bird to Infinity. I’ve always had a creative mind, and I’ve been dabbling in all kinds of artforms since I was very young. I’ve had a strange fixation on Unity for the longest time now, and EAST allowed me to pour that passion into a project which has become bigger than I ever could have imagined. This project has inspired me to branch out and design and code for several other mediums. It has given me motivation to try more Adobe Creative Cloud applications than I had before, and it fulfilled me this year like nothing else in my lifetime. Making this game was an unforgettable experience, as was attending #EASTCon22, and my only regret is that I can’t do it again next year!

Macie: My favorite project this year was mapping the trails at the Village Creek State Park. This project was pitched to us several years ago, but we had no idea how we would even start this project, much less complete it. A few years later, our school got a 360º camera and I began learning how to use it. Once I made a tour of the school and felt comfortable with it, I went to the Parkin Archeological State Park and made a tour for them that went on to win the Congressional App Challenge. After that I felt very confident in mapping the trials, so I put together a team and we worked together in getting every trail mapped and I got all of the footage put into our website.

Describe the greatest challenge you faced this year individually.

Lexi: The greatest challenge I’ve faced this year is wondering what was next. I constantly am worrying about the idea of “peaking” or if I have made it as far as I can go, so finding ways to further myself was a difficult task. After my opportunity to work with Arkansas PBS, that idea definitely worsened, and for a while, I seemed stuck. However, after that, I took a moment to look at my project CCHS Live! and I really think about how far that project has gotten since it first began five years ago, and I set new goals for myself and that project. Setting those goals has really helped the idea of going forward seem easier and more manageable as I was able to have a real idea of what I was wanting to accomplish.

Macie: The greatest challenge I’ve faced this year was public speaking. Speaking about what I have done in EAST has always been a struggle for me because I never feel like I am getting my point across no matter what I say. I really enjoy doing the project, because it is the easy part for me, but talking about what I have done has always been more difficult for me. Without having a speech memorized or a clear idea of what I am talking about, I trip over my words very easily and become less confident as the speech goes on.

Did this year feel like the best year yet for EAST at Cross County HS?

Lexi: This year definitely felt like our best year for EAST at Cross County High School because of how much we were not only able to accomplish project-wise, but how much growth we were able to see within our program. We got to see first and second year EAST students discover their fit, and go so far as to win competitions at EAST Conference. We also saw students within our program collaborating together in a professional manner like I had never seen before. EAST is a student-led class, and this year, we truly got to see what that means and the capabilities EAST students have.