Join us at UACCB for a Free Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) Workshop! Thursday, August 28 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

This session is specially designed for homeschool families interested in learning how EFAs can help fund and enhance their child’s education.

Dr. Darrell Smith will lead the workshop, covering:

• EFA eligibility requirements
• The application process
• Allowable expenses
• How to select approved vendors
• Tips for navigating the EFA portal

Dr. Smith will also be available to answer questions and provide hands-on guidance.

Don’t miss this opportunity to discover how EFAs can support your homeschool journey!

Meet Our Speaker

Dr. Darrell Smith began serving the people of Arkansas as the Assistant Commissioner for School Choice and Parent Empowerment in April 2023. He oversees the Education Freedom Accounts, Charter Schools, Homeschool, and the Community and Family Engagement program in this role.

His 30+ year educational career began in Arkansas, where he served as a teacher, principal, and administrator at Little Rock Christian Academy helping one of the largest private schools in the country achieve National Blue Ribbon status. He has recently led schools in Texas and Oklahoma and three international schools to greater academic achievement and enrollment success. He has also served and led national accreditation teams, helping schools nationally and internationally achieve quality within a continuous improvement model.

Smith received his bachelor's degree in Finance/Economics from Baylor University, a master's in Counseling Psychology, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Liberty University.

Free Workshop: Drone-Remote Sensing in Agriculture

Explore the Future of Agricultural Technology

Join us for an exciting free session on Drone-Remote Sensing in Agriculture and discover how drone technology is transforming modern farming practices.

Who Should Attend: Individuals 24 years or older who are interested in agricultural technology and innovation. No prior experience necessary!

Why Attend?

• Learn how drones are used in precision agriculture
• Hands-on demonstrations with industry experts
• Facilitated by Dr. Henry Akwah and Greenway Equipment technicians
• Limited to 20 participants
• $125 stipend for each participant

Date: Friday, September 12, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM  Location: Greenway Tech Farm, Newport, AR

Location: Greenway Tech Farm

Address: 6147 AR-18, Newport, AR 72112

Don’t miss this opportunity!

The National Science Foundation generously provided the funding for this training (Award No. 2300513). UACCB is grateful for its partnership with Greenway Equipment, who also helped make this class possible.

Registration is required. Register Now – Spots are Limited!

For more information, call 870-612-2082 or email communityed@uaccb.edu

Attention nature lovers, families, educators, homeschool groups, and anyone interested in wildlife conservation! Bats are a protected species, and local populations are declining due to White-nose Syndrome. This class is your chance to take action and help them survive.

In this session, Jacob Richards, Park Interpreter at Jacksonport State Park, will lead an engaging and hands-on community education program all about bats. You’ll discover fascinating facts about two of our area’s most prominent species — the Little Brown Bat and the Big Brown Bat. Learn about their unique adaptations, what they eat, how they benefit our environment, and ways to help protect them.

After the presentation, roll up your sleeves and help assemble bat boxes that will be installed in downtown Batesville. Building these shelters is not only fun, but also a meaningful way to support local bat populations. All materials will be provided, and participants will have the chance to take part in a giveaway for a completed bat box!

This class is offered in partnership with the Independence County Library and made possible by the generosity of The Home Depot.

Youth Participants

Children are welcome to join this fun and informative class, but they must be accompanied by an adult.

Meet Our Instructor

Jacob Richards is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Park Interpreter at Jacksonport State Park. He earned his Certificate of Interpretive Guiding from the National Association for Interpretation and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Williams Baptist University. Now in his second season of interpretation, Jacob is passionate about inspiring others with the park’s rich history, diverse wildlife, and natural beauty.

Register now >>

Join us for this free, in-person Hunter Education class sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC). The course takes place on Saturday, October 4, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Arkansas law requires anyone born after 1968 to complete an approved hunter education course before purchasing a hunting license. Youth under 16 may hunt without certification if supervised by an adult (age 21 or older), but completing this course is strongly encouraged.

There is no minimum age to enroll, but the course material is written at a sixth-grade reading level.

Upon successful completion, students will receive their official Arkansas Hunter Education card.

If you have questions, please call 870-612-2082. Registration online via the AGFC website is required.

Register now >>

Blogging and Podcasting for Beginners will teach you how to plan and create your very own blog and podcast. Through hands-on exercises, you will discover the benefits of using free web tools like Blogger, WordPress, Audacity, and YouTube. You will find that creating a blog and podcast is much easier than you ever imagined.

First, you will learn how to develop a plan for the content, setup, maintenance, and how to use free blogging software like Blogger and WordPress to put that plan into action. After that, learn how to record a professional-sounding audio podcast with a very simple recording tool you already have. You will edit the file with another free software program, add music to it, and then post it online for others to enjoy. Finally, you will find out how to record a video podcast. You will edit it, add special effects, drop in a podcasting-safe music file, and then publish it online.

Learn more about this online course >>

Register now >>

Create and post your very own website using HTML. You will learn the best strategies for planning the content, structure, and layout of your website as well as creating pages with neatly formatted text, building links between the pages, and more! This course will also cover search engine optimization and powerful no-cost or low-cost web marketing strategies.

Learn more about this online course >>

Register now >>

Learn how to create attractive, sophisticated blogs and websites—without any coding! WordPress is the world's most popular content management system, powering more than 40 percent of all sites on the Internet. WordPress is an easy-to-use solution that will help you put your site on the web in far less time than by coding, and at a much lower cost than hiring a professional.

In these lessons, you'll get hands-on experience with this powerful tool as you create your own WordPress.org site and blog. You'll find out how to use WordPress to create pages and posts, add images and videos, change a site's look and feel, and include user-friendly features. You'll discover the ease of using WordPress design themes to express your creativity, and you'll see how much fun it is to be part of the vibrant WordPress online community.

In addition to mastering the technical elements of WordPress, you'll learn how to organize a blog or website, create appealing content, keep your site secure, and achieve better positions on search engine results pages. By the end of this course, you'll be able to confidently use WordPress to create a blog or a personal, business, or organizational website.

Learn more about this online course >>

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Discover Digital Photography is designed for the novice photographer with no previous experience with digital cameras.

This course will teach you all about digital cameras, from DSLRs to smart phone cameras and what different equipment is used for. You will learn about different display methods for your camera, including sizing, print options, online storage, and how social media factors into digital photography. If you have old slides, negatives, or prints, this course will also teach you how to scan those "old school" photo assets.

After completing the course, you will understand how the process of composing photos has changed with the evolving capabilities of digital photography.

Learn more about this online course >>