12 Year Old Prodigy Alena Wicker Recognized By City Council
DESOTO – Due to COVID protocols, it was a virtual handshake on Tuesday evening with DeSoto City Council, from a 12-year-old prodigy who will reportedly be the youngest intern ever in NASA intern program.
After all, she’s ready for an internship since at the ripe old age of 12 she just graduated high school this last weekend.
At the DeSoto City Council virtual meeting Tuesday night council “met” north Texas resident Alena Wicker as she gave them all a virtual handshake hello.
“Her name is in the wind,” said DeSoto Mayor Rachel Proctor when she introduced Wicker, who received a proclamation from the Mayor and City of DeSoto for graduating high school, operating her own business, and enrolling at Arizona State University.
Obsessed With NASA From An Early Age
Her NASA craze began when she was just four years old.
With the stars in mind, the day in DeSoto was therefore designated Star Wars Day and DeSoto Communications posted a “May The 4TH Be With You!” greeting on City social media platforms.
The introductions between the City of DeSoto and Wicker began when the girl and her mother Daphne dropped by the mayor’s office to bring her one of Wicker’s “Brown Stem Girl” hoodies.
Mayor Proctor commented on her Facebook page at that time “She’s headed to college to double major in Astronomical and Planetary Science and Chemistry. And what’s more, she’s fulfilling her dream of becoming the youngest African American to intern for @nasa this summer all while giving back and mentoring other young women to follow in her footsteps.”
An Honorary DeSoto Resident
Over the weekend the Mayor spent time at Wicker’s graduation festivities getting to know her better too.
“She has been someone who has stolen my heart and I knew she had to come to the council meeting tonight so the city could meet her,” Proctor said. “She is not a DeSoto resident, but she is an honorary resident and we want to recognize her.”
Wicker’s passion for all things STEM started with LEGOs and her mom said that at just four years old “Alena would always say that she was going to work for NASA and she would point to the stars.”
DeSoto Emphasizing Academic Excellence
Council pointed out too that with examples like Wicker, it is helping DeSoto’s progress with its educational goals placing a greater emphasis on academic excellence in the lives of the city’s youth.
“For my graduation I was excited because the head of NASA came to give me my proclamation and he gave me my diploma,” Wicker concluded. “I had a lot of mayors come and one was Mayor Proctor and I loved them all.”
For now, Alena Wicker is definitely reaching her goals and it seems she has landed among the stars.
