Owen Beckmeyer, Wright City, is among Missouri’s brightest high school students who attended the Missouri Scholars Academy (MSA) June 7 – 27 at the University of Missouri.MSA began in 1985 and provides students opportunities to expand their educational and social skills. This year, students spent their time at Mizzou in intensive classroom settings, studying one of four individually selected subjects: mathematics, science, social studies and humanities. Each Missouri high school nominated one junior-to-be for the academy; larger schools could nominate more students. Students at the academy represent nearly every county in the state.“All of the activities at the academy are designed to be broadening and enriching,” said first-year director Steven Keller, an associate director of the MU Honors College. “Here at the Missouri Scholars Academy, we want to encourage these talented students to own their intelligence and inspire them to put it to good use. In particular, we hope to get students to engage in activities that are outside their comfort zones and push themselves past arbitrary limits they might have subconsciously set for themselves.”Outside the classroom, students participated in a series of activities, workshops and discussions led by guest speakers from around the country. This year, author and speaker Tim Wise led activities designed to engage students with issues of class, inequality and racism. Other guests included Missouri documentary filmmaker Mark Norwine; Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor; and Linda Godwin, former astronaut and current professor of physics at MU. Students also had the option to watch a dress rehearsal of the Missouri Symphony Society, participate in a conservation-themed trip down the Missouri River, and attend a presentation and discussion on digital privacy.Beckmeyer, who attends St. Francis Borgia Regional High School, is the son of Kristin Beckmeyer.MU is the largest and oldest university of the state’s major public, land-grant research institutions.Missouri Scholars Academy