P.A.R.K. EDUCATION AWARD.........................
Senior / Marion High School
WHY SHE WON:
Athletic prowess is only one of the qualities that make a true student athlete; dedication to scholarship and serving the local community are also important. Marion High School senior Annalee Parker, who plays volleyball and basketball, balanced all three qualities during her high school career. Her efforts earned her the 2017 All-Arkansas Preps P.A.R.K. Education Award, which is presented each year to a student athlete who excels in both athletics and academics.
“Annalee is the total package,” said Keith Jackson, former NFL player and founder of P.A.R.K. “She is smart, athletic, community-oriented, respectful and highly thought of by her family, friends, teachers and coaches. Her accomplishments and involvement in and out of school are amazing, just like her.”
Her mother, Stacy Parker, said she is excited to see her daughter presented with this prestigious award.
“This will be our third year to attend the banquet and be on one of the All-Arkansas Preps teams, and we just couldn’t be more honored,” Stacy said. “It’s a first-class operation.”
Marion volleyball coach Lisa Beasley noted that Annalee’s many athletic accomplishments helped her earn this award.
“Annalee is such a special and gifted young lady,” Beasley wrote in her nomination letter. “Her achievements on the volleyball court are phenomenal. She was the District Tournament MVP in ninth grade and hasn’t looked back since.”
Annalee Parker picked up volleyball in the second grade. During her career, she has racked up 1,058 total digs, 155 aces and 1,004 kills, including a personal game record of 30 kills. She has been named all-conference every year since the eighth grade, and she was named all-state this year. During her senior year, Parker was a Wendy’s High School Heisman state finalist, winner of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Phenom Award and an Arkansas High School Coaches Association All Star.
This year, Parker also helped the Patriots basketball team win a state championship. She had not played the sport competitively since she was in the ninth grade.
“I’m going to have to give a lot of credit to my parents, definitely. They’ve been there through everything and pushed me to do my best,” Parker said, adding that she is also grateful to her coaches. “They have been really amazing. They’ve always made everything fun, and they’ve taught us that family’s probably the most important thing on a team. It’s not all about the individual.”
Parker carries that selflessness with her off the court through her many community-service activities. Outside of school, Parker gives back through the Marion United Methodist Church youth group. One volunteer activity she is involved in is Hope for the Holidays, during which the group delivers at least 100 boxes of food and children’s gifts to local
families in need for Christmas. The group also delivers meals to seniors at Thanksgiving.
In addition, Parker has gone on mission trips to help clean up tornado damage in Joplin, Missouri, and build a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling, for a family in New Mexico. She has also helped with Paint the Town Pink during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and volunteered at Camp Aldersgate. She said her volleyball career has made her community service more visible and potentially inspired others to volunteer.
“The volunteer work has probably made everything else worth it,” she said. “You get to do a lot of fun stuff with your friends and everything, but none of it has ever given me as much joy as the volunteer work the we’ve done.”
Parker said managing her time wisely allows her to fit athletics, community service and schoolwork into her schedule. “You’ve got to realize what comes first, so the schoolwork, then the volleyball and working in the hours you are planning on volunteering,” she said.
With a grade-point average of 4.12, Parker has certainly put her schoolwork first. She is ranked fourth out of 253 students and participates in a number of extracurricular activities, including the National Honor Society, the Christian Athletes Club, the Art Club and Mu Alpha Theta, a math club. This year, her peers selected her to be the school’s homecoming queen. Marion Athletic Director Paul Johnston noted that Parker’s participation, not only in volleyball but also in her extracurriculars, shows dedication to her school.
“Annalee is such a great person. She leads by example, and her actions speak louder than words. She is very deserving of this award,” he wrote in his nomination letter. “If I had a daughter, I would want her to emulate and follow in the footsteps of Annalee Parker.”
Being a role model for younger athletes motivates Parker to be the best she can be on and off the court, she said, adding that she remembers looking up to older girls as a young player.
“I want them to know that partying and everything is not what it takes to be happy or have fun,” she said. “I want them to see that good grades and volunteering are what it takes to truly make their lives happy.”
This fall, Parker will set aside volleyball to focus on her studies as a pre-veterinary student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. An avid animal lover, Parker has worked at a local animal clinic for the past two summers. She said that in college, she hopes to make good grades and get involved at a local church. She is also considering studying abroad in Africa through a program that provides eggs to children who are malnourished.