Eddie Parker: From DOE Speaker to Governor

Eddie Parker, a rising senior at Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi, is the new governor of the fictional state known as Magnolia through a program called Boys State.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 16, 2008 -- Eddie Parker, a rising senior at Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi, is the new governor of the fictional state known as Magnolia through a program called Boys State. Parker won the honor from among the 400 selected participants campaigning in a primary election to run the fictional state known as Magnolia for a week. Parker never thought of himself as being a politician until Boys State provided the opportunity for him to go inside of a new world where it is based on politics and try to gain political power by working for what you believe in. In his senior year at Murrah, Parker will serve as battalion commander of the school's JROTC program. He aspires to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point where he would become a military officer or Jackson State University to pursue a degree in computer engineering or computer programming.

In 2003, Eddie was a seventh grader at Powell Middle School in Jackson, Mississippi. During the summer, Eddie conducted research at Jackson State University as part of a talent search
bridge program for middle and high school students. Eddie's performance on his research project was so impressive that his mentors at Jackson State brought him to Washington, DC to participate in the 13th Science and Engineering Alliance (SEA) Student Technical Conference and Recognition Program (STCRP) held at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Headquarters. After listening to him briefly describe his research, he was selected to make an oral presentation before DOE management instead of a poster presentation. DOE leadership and others felt strongly that this young man was going very far. Eddie Parker continues to go far as he moves into his senior year in high school.

"We all agreed in 2003, that with continued mentoring and coaching, Eddie Parker was destined to be a leader in whatever field of science or engineering he pursued," noted Dr. Robert Shepard, SEA Executive Director. "This demonstrates that the bridge programs held at Jackson State University during the summer for middle and high school students from across the State of Mississippi continues to identify and shape young talent," noted Dr. Ronald Mason, President of Jackson State University and SEA Executive Board Chair.

SEA is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization established in 1990 to address the challenge of establishing an ethnically diverse technical workforce prepared to compete in today's global marketplace. Its unique program is dedicated to ensuring that historically underrepresented talent plays a vital role in the nation's scientific and engineering future.

SEA members include: Alabama A&M University (Huntsville, AL); Jackson State University (Jackson, MS); Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, TX) and Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, LA), and two national laboratories--Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, CA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. SEA serves as a "Unique Resource for the Nation®" that focuses on creating opportunities for access and inclusion of its members more fully in the public and private research and development enterprise.

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