Tennessee's Presidential Scholars are Both USN Students
Two high school seniors in Tennessee have been named Presidential Scholars, one of the highest honors for young people in the country, and both are USN students.
In June Ian Ball and Lauren Coleman will be honored in Washington, D.C., and each will be accompanied on the trip by his or her "most inspiring and challenging teacher." They chose French teacher Richard Espenant and English teacher and debate coach Thom O'Rourke.
Both Ian and Lauren came to USN in kindergarten, and they have been stellar students ever since. But both have interests well beyond the classroom. Ian is co-captain of the soccer team and captain of the debate team. Throughout his high school years, he has been a lower school aide, giving advanced math instruction to a group of fourth graders. The editor of USN's literary magazine The Gallery, Lauren is co-chair of USN's Edgehill Community Center tutoring program. Next year Lauren will attend Princeton University; Ian will attend Stanford University.
From the Department of Education press release: "The 141 U.S. Presidential Scholars include one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts. The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars appointed by the President selected the scholars based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals."
Aliza Ahmed '26, Uma Ehrig '26, Victor Peng '26, Ruchika Ramachandran '27, and Yvonne Wang '27 participated in the Asian Educators Alliance conference this year in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anna Brook '30, Claire Yu '30, Clio Cherry-Pulay '29, and Liam Mooney '28 took him the championship during the 4th annual USN Middle School Quiz Bowl Championships. Two teams will travel to Chicago to compete in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Middle School National Championships on Saturday, May 10.
Cpl. Robert Gibson joined University School of Nashville in November as a School Resource Officer, a certified police officer who is primarily assigned to a school and provides safety and security-related functions, including emergency response, safety training, traffic direction, and patrol functions.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.