WLOX-TV Biloxi
Two South Mississippi students selected for U.S. Senate Youth Program
By WLOX Staff
GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - Two South Mississippi students have been chosen to participate in the United States Senate Youth Program and will represent the state alongside Sen. Roger Wicker and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith during the 64th annual USSYP Washington Week.
William Crosby Parker II, a senior at Gulfport High School, and Nial Chen, a senior at Ocean Springs High School, were selected from among the state’s top student leaders.
The two Coast students will be part of a group of 104 high schoolers to take part in the week-long event in March. The group is made up of two students from each state, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity.
The USSYP week-long study of the federal government allows students to meet with senators, the president, a Supreme Court justice, and other high-level officials. Each student will also receive a $10,000 scholarship.
Crosby Parker
Parker is a student representative to the Mississippi State Board of Education. He also founded the Gulfport IMPACT Mentorship Program and the Boys and Girls Club Summer Robotics Program. Parker is captain of the school’s golf and cross country teams. He also runs track and was one of three students awarded this year’s GHS Scholar Athlete award.
He also received this year’s Lindy Callahan Scholar Athlete award, which recognizes the senior with the highest GPA (4.53) playing multiple sports.
He plans to conduct artificial intelligence research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Parker also received an Air Force ROTC scholarship and plans to join the military to develop a career of service.
Nial Chen
Chen is the senior class president at Ocean Springs High School. He serves as the Communications Director for the city’s Mayor’s Youth Council and is a member of the Secretary of State Ambassadors. Chen is involved in the high school tennis team, the Superintendent Advisory Council, and the National Honor Society.
Chen leads an initiative providing free lessons in vocabulary, grammar, and American culture to first-generation Chinese students.
He recently interned for the law offices of Alwyn H. Luckey and is a former intern at Jason Graeber Law. Chen plans to pursue a double major in public policy and Chinese and later attend law school.