Houston County Schools announces top graduates for 2020 class
Houston County high schools have announced their valedictorian and salutatorian for the Classes of 2020. The top graduates are:
Houston County High: Valedictorian Shivani Narain, Salutatorian Vishesh Patel
Northside High: Valedictorian Willow Truman, Salutatorian Colbert “Tre” Flagg, III
Perry High: Valedictorian Trevor Vandersall, Salutatorian Colson Jones
Veterans High: Valedictorian Isha Shah, Salutatorian Colton Walker
Warner Robins High: Valedictorian Peyton Page, Salutatorian Shu Lin Zheng.
Commencement were originally slated for May 22-23, but it’s unknown how COVID-19 will impact commencement. Here’s some information on the valedictorians:
Houston County High Valedictorian, Shivani Narain
Valedictorian 2020 Shivani Narain is an active member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and currently serves as Parliamentarian, which is state officer for the organization. She previously served as the 2018-2019 Region 5 Vice President and currently serves as the school’s FBLA Executive Vice-President.
She is also a successful competitor in FBLA - she has won two national awards in Hospitality Management and Entrepreneurship, as well as a state award in Client Service. In addition to FBLA, she actively participates in National Honors Society, National Technical Honors Society, and Spanish Honors Society.
Her honors include Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction, Georgia Certificate of Merit, Science Fair 1st place regional and state winner, and Highest Average Awards in Honors Geometry, Introduction to Business and Technology, Spanish 1, Honors U.S. History, AP English Language and Composition and Financial Literacy. She serves her community by volunteering at the Lake Joy Assisted Living Center, Houston Medical Center, and local elementary schools. Shivani plans to pursue a business degree with a concentration in Finance. She is the daughter of Iyer and Hema Narain, and has an older sister, Vaishnavi.
Northside High Valedictorian, Willow Truman
Truman has a four-year membership to the Beta Club, as well as a three-year membership to the National Spanish Honor Society, in which she serves as Vice President. She is also an Advanced Placement Scholar, receiving fives on two of her exams. In addition, Truman has placed in the top 5% of the collective school’s grades consecutively for three years.
She is a recipient for both the Georgia Certificate of Merit and Governor’s Honors Program in Mathematics and Communicative Arts. Involved in the community, she spends frequent afternoons teaching Spanish to students at Lake Joy Primary School and volunteering at the Humane Society and Warner Robins Animal Control. Upon graduation, Truman plans to attend the University of Georgia in the fall, majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her parents are Howard and Julia Truman, and she has one sister, Amanda Braswell.
Perry High Valedictorian, Trevor Vandersall
Trevor Vandersall is an Advanced Placement Scholar and the 2020 Perry High School STAR Student. A recipient of the Georgia Certificate of Merit, Vandersall has maintained a 4.0 GPA through four years of high school.
He was nominated for the Governor’s Honors Program and has received recognition for the highest average in AP Biology, AP Language & Composition, AP U. S. History, Honors Biology, Honors U. S. and World Affairs, Honors World Literature, Honors Chemistry, and French I. Vandersall marched with the Panther Regiment Band for two years and currently plays tuba in both the PHS Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble. He has played on the Perry Panthers football team for four years and has earned Player of the Week honors several times. Vandersall was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman for the 2018-19 season and won the PHS Football Hazel Jackson Scholar Athlete Award for the past three seasons.
He was awarded the Curtis Riner Coach’s award for the 2019-20 season. He earned Football Region 2 AAAA Honorable Mention and was named a Scholar Athlete for 2018-19. He was accepted to Georgia Institute of Technology and plans to major in biomedical engineering. His parents are Scott and Donna Vandersall.
Veterans High Valedictorian, Isha Shah
Isha Shah currently serves as the Veterans High Beta Club president and Literary Magazine editor. The 2017-2018 Miss VHS, she is also a member of Partners Club, Science Olympiad, Mu Alpha Theta Math Team, Concert Band and the tennis team. A 2018-19 Warner Robins Youth Leadership member, she was the first place and grand prize award winner at the Houston Regional Science Fair, second at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, and a finalist at the International Science and Engineering Fair for the past two years.
Shah also founded Sci-π, an organization that tutors elementary school students. Furthermore, she is a Bernard-Ramsey Scholar and Foundation Fellowship finalist at UGA. The daughter of Ojash and Archana Shah, Isha spent last summer interning at Emory Winship Cancer Institute. She plans to major in Public Health at the University of Georgia and then pursue a career in medicine as she continues to conduct research, learning about the interdisciplinary nature of healthcare and economics.
Warner Robins High Valedictorian, Peyton Page
Peyton Elizabeth Page is both an Honors Student and an Advanced Placement Scholar, as well as a Georgia Certificate of Merit recipient. She has received multiple awards for the highest GPA in her high school classes. Page has been a Governor’s Honor Program nominee twice, and was a semi-finalist in Communicative Arts.
She has participated regularly for three years in the Demon Marching Band and the Symphonic and Concert Band for four. In addition, she has been a member of Junior Beta Club for four years and a Stonewall Club member for one. Page is considering University of Georgia or Georgia State University as her post-secondary education. She is the daughter of Ryan and Mary Page.
