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University of Houston Hosts Inaugural Pioneer Student Leadership Academy

Posted: 06/16/2004

University has one of the most diverse student populations in the country

HOUSTON, June 16, 2004 - The Pioneers in Education Alliance today launched its
inaugural Pioneer Student Leadership Academy at the University of Houston's Cullen
College of Engineering, with 46+ high school and college students representing 10 states
and the District of Columbia. The Alliance that grew from a conversation around a table
in Washington, D.C. among four representatives of education, industry and the military
less than a year ago, today is positioned to help our country's greatest national
resource-our youth-find their places in the 21^st Century workforce.

The Leadership Academy is an outgrowth of the Pioneers in Education Alliance, whose
goal is to promote literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, increase
the diversity in these fields, and promote awareness of and interest in nontraditional
applications and career paths for the sciences.

The four Alliance partners-DuPont, NASA-SEMAA (NASA's Science, Engineering,
Mathematics and Aerospace Academy), SECME, Inc. (previously, the Southeastern
Consortium of Minorities in Engineering), and the National Museum of the United States
Army (NMUSA)-share a concern for workforce readiness and a commitment to
furthering education. Each a pioneer in its own right, together these organizations have
five centuries of service.

The Alliance partners were showcased in the "Pioneers in Education" video, the work of
the award-winning producer/director Will Harper of GlobalTouch Inc., Los Angeles. The
video is the result of a chance meeting in March between Harper and COL (Ret.) Jim
Paige of NMUSA, who shared the vision of the Alliance. Harper interpreted that vision,
and the Alliance gave him carte blanche to create the video-along with an appeal to
have it ready in two weeks. It premiered two weeks later to the day on April 1 during the
DuPont Teacher's Banquet at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Conference in Atlanta.

To meet his deadline, Harper crisscrossed the country, interviewing and filming the
partners for the video, did all the editing, and with COL Paige, wrote the script and
selected the music. Phyllis Buchanan of DuPont and Jeb Bennett of NMUSA traveled to
L.A. to meet with Harper, while Dr. Yvonne Freeman of SECME, Inc. and John Hairston of