Wisconsin Forensics Daily

JMM’s Valerie Shen Named Presidential Scholar

Valerie Shen of James Madison Memorial was named one of two Wisconsin Presidential Scholars, an honor extended to 141 students nationwide. She shared her achievement with her debate coach, Tim Scheffler, who will receive a Teacher Recognition award. Valerie was a recipient of both a Wisconsin Debate Coaches Association and Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association scholarship. She was the WFCA’s 2008-2009 State Champion in Extemp, and with partner Lingran Kong, the WDCA’s 2009-2010 State Champion in Public Forum Debate. She and Lingran advanced to elimination rounds at the NFL national tournament in Public Forum in 2008 and 2009, and are making a third trip there this year. The past weekend she and Lingran achieved a 4-3 record at the University of Kentucky’s Tournament of Champions, placing 26th overall. She is an NFL Academic All-American, holds a Premier Distinction Degree (five ruby), and is currently 23rd on the All-American list.

A review by WFD revealed 22 of the 141 Scholars are NFL members and 7 educators are current or former NFL coaches (Shen and Scheffler included). This recognition shows the value of Debate and Speech in brining out the best in students and the value that debate and speech coaches have on our nations brightest scholars.  (Full list after the break).

SCHOLARS:
California
CA – Fremont – Pooja K. Shah, Irvington High School, Distinction

Colorado
CO – Golden – Wendy S. Zeng, Lakewood Senior High School, Distinction
CO – Longmont – Kevin T. Wittenberg, Niwot High School, Distinction

Idaho
ID – Eagle – Karl T. Schutz, Bishop Kelly High School, Superior Distinction
ID – Pocatello – Alyson M. Gigger, Century High School, Outstanding Distinction

Illinois
IL – Highland Park – Jacob U. Arber, Highland Park High School, Outstanding Distinction

Indiana
IN – Carmel – Michael L. Wang, Carmel High School, Merit
IN – Kokomo – Lynelle T. Chen, Park Tudor School, Honor

Kansas
KS – Leawood – Andrea N. Hinton, Blue Valley North High School, Distinction

Maryland
MD – Rockville – Scott S. Yu, Montgomery Blair High School, Excellence

Mississippi
MS – Flowood – Andrew G. Li, Jackson Preparatory School, Excellence

Nebraska
NE – Lincoln – Maesen A. Churchill, Lincoln East High School, Superior Distinction
NE – Omaha – Wyatt N. Troia, Creighton Preparatory School, Merit

North Dakota
ND – Fargo – Phoebe Strom, North High School, Premier Distinction

Pennsylvania
PA – State College – Cody M. Wild, State College Area High School, Merit

South Carolina
SC – Mt. Pleasant – Anne V. Cai, Porter-Gaud School, Honor

South Dakota
SD – Sioux Falls – Kiah M. Schaefbauer, O’Gorman High School, Distinction

Tennessee
TN – Nashville – Ian S. Ball, University School of Nashville, Special Distinction

Utah
UT – North Salt Lake – Anne J. Wang, West High School, Superior Distinction

West Virginia
WV – West Liberty – Sharif I. Youssef, Wheeling Park High School, Superior Distinction

Wisconsin
WI – Verona – Valerie Shen, James Madison Memorial High School, Premier Distinction

Wyoming
WY – Gillette – Kaiser A. Mock, Campbell County High School, Premier Distinction

TEACHER AWARDS:

Ms. Pat Cannon ***, Highland Park High School, IL, Counselor
Nominating Scholar: Jacob Arber

Mr. Matthew Davis ***, Lincoln East High School, NE, Oral Communication
Nominating Scholar: Maesen Churchill

Mrs. Donna Hieb, Campbell County High School, WY, English
Nominating Scholar: Kaiser Mock

Ms. Mary Ellen Johnson **, West High School, UT, Language Arts
Nominating Scholar: Anne Wang

Mr. Darin Maier *, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, MS, Government
Nominating Scholar: Ann Burrell

Mr. Thom O’Rourke, University School of Nashville, TN, Debate
Nominating Scholar: Ian Ball

Mr. Timothy Scheffler *, James Madison Memorial HS, WI, Debate and Forensics Coach
Nominating Scholar: Valerie Shen

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