Reserved and unassuming, Odessa High School senior Edward Burnette is a National Commended Scholar.
Recently recognized at an Ector County ISD Board of Trustees meeting, Burnette ranks among the top 3% of the approximately 1.5 million students who took the PSAT/NMSQT in fall 2021.
Burnette said he was surprised by being chosen as a National Commended Scholar because he didn’t realize the PSAT/NMSQT test he took in 2021 would still put him in line for the recognition.
Burnette is a senior this year at OHS and plans to attend University of Texas at Austin to become a mechanical engineer.
“I like designing things,” he said.
He takes two International Baccalaureate courses, but is not in the program. He is in IB theater and does a little bit of acting, but likes to write.
“I wrote precisely two acts of our five-act play,” Burnette said. That was the first time he participated in theater and he enjoyed it.
What drives him to do well in school is getting a nice job and a “career that is fulfilling and meaningful.”
Burnette added that education is a “very useful tool.”
Math is his favorite subject.
“I like the memorization aspect of it. I like the problem-solving part of it,” he said.
He said his parents have always encouraged him to do well in school.
“My parents have always been strict with academic performance,” Burnette said.
He has two older siblings.
His parents names are Riva and Darrell. His father is an adult social worker and his mother is a retired nurse.
His brother is a programmer and his sister is a teacher at Hays STEAM Academy.
“We are very proud of Edward and his accomplishments. He is an example of hard work and determination,” OHS Principal Anthony Garcia said.
