Jackson Free Press

Rev. Jerry Young wants more African American girls in Mississippi to explore engineering. This summer, Young, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, is working with Carl B. Mack, executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers and a Jackson native, to bring a summer engineering program for girls to Mississippi's capital city.

The Summer Engineering Experience for Kids Academy is a free, three-week program open to black, female elementary students in 3rd through 5th grade. NSBE engineering students and technical professionals will provide a hands-on engineering curriculum developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The girls participating in SEEK will work in teams to solve problems and create products while studying STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—subjects. Each week, the campers will take on a new project, which culminates in a presentation and design competition that parents can attend.

Jackson's SEEK program will include 100 students in each grade level for a total of 300 girls. Fifty female mentors will facilitate, all of whom are collegiate members of NSBE from across the U.S. The mentors will arrive in Jackson a week before the program begins for training and preparation.

Young has led the New Hope congregation since 1980. He is the founder and headmaster of New Hope Christian Preschool and New Hope Christian Elementary School, which together serve more than 300 students, from infants to 6th-graders.

He attended Nugent Center High School in Bolivar County and went on to attain an associate's degree in social science from Coahoma Junior College in Clarksdale. Young received a bachelor's degree in sociology and social welfare from Rust College in Holly Springs, and a master's and doctoral degree in divinity from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson.

Young met and married the love of his life, Helen Akins Young, in Holly Springs. They have two daughters, Dr. Jerlen Nelson and Kelli Elizabeth (Benjamin) Hart; two granddaughters, Linzee Elise Nelson and Lauryn Hailen Nelson; one grandson, Benjamin Jerron Hart, II; and one step-grandson, Picasso Nelson, Jr.

SEEK starts June 24 and runs through July 12. Classes are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. For information or to register, visit NSBE's website or call 703-837-9917.