Cong. Crawford Visits Jonesboro EAST Lab, Youth On A Mission

Sean Roades is a kid on a mission.

The eighth-grader at MacArthur Junior High School in Jonesboro is working on a plan to put a mural in downtown Jonesboro.

He also invited Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, to his class Thursday to learn more about the project and to see what he and other students are learning.

Crawford took a tour of the MacArthur Junior High EAST lab and spoke to the students about leadership and their future.

Roades’ teacher, Garrett Barnes, said there are 105 students that participate in EAST, or Environmental and Spatial Technology, lab at the school.

Barnes said the students there are able to use what they learn in other classes to build projects and use the time working together.

Nearly half of the students are in their first year in the program, Barnes said, noting the work on the projects help to build interpersonal relationships.

The students are also all business when it comes to getting projects off the ground, literally and figuratively.

One of the students actually flew a drone in a field next to the school, while other students showed Crawford their projects.

QUIZZING THE CONGRESSMAN
In talking to the students, Crawford said he also worked with technology before running for political office in 2010.

Before winning the congressional seat, Crawford owned an agriculture radio network in the state. Crawford told the students his programs started with four stations and had over 50 by the time he sold the company.

The students also asked about his work schedule in Congress. Crawford said he commutes each week, spends a total of three nights a week, three weeks at a time in the nation’s capital voting on issues.

Crawford also told the students that the decision to run for political office the first time was a “big leap” due to never before running for office.

STUDENT PROJECTS
Holden Welch, a 7th grader at the school, has been working with other students, Kyle Clayton and Dalton Price, on a mapping system to help hospitals track home medical patients in case of a disaster.

Welch, Clayton and Price said the system uses GPS software, with students working with area utility providers to build the system.

This is the first year for Welch in the program.

“You have the freedom to come up with things,” Welch said of the projects.

As for his future, Welch said he definitely knows what he wants to do for a living.

“I want to be a technician at NASA and my dream is Stanford,” Welch said.

MURAL COMPETITION
Roades is working with the Downtown Jonesboro Association on a competition for the mural.

When completed, the mural will be placed on the side of a building near the Forum theater in downtown Jonesboro.

The drawing of the mural can be hand-drawn or done by a computer, Roades said. Once a drawing is selected, Roades said he would create an Adobe PDF file of the drawing and transfer it to an industrial printer to complete the job.

Roades said he wants to study something similar when he goes to college in a few years.

“I want to study either architecture or business, but I am not entirely sure yet,” Roades said.

People interested in the mural project can go to the Downtown Jonesboro Association’s Facebook page.