Penn names Valedictorians/Salutatorians for Class of 2023

Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher announced that 17 students have been named Valedictorians for the Class of 2023. Four students were named Salutatorians.

Valedictorians Sakina Al-Fadhl, Ryan Cheng, Tanya Datta, Eshaal Kizilbash, Gwyneth Lannon, David Luan, Reagan Ludwig, Zenia Qasim, Abigail Schroeder, Derick Shi, Sydney Szklarek, Grace Wang, Zichu Wang, Carl Xu, Allison Yu, Janet Yu and Madelyn Zavada, and Salutatorians Jillian Adams, Anna Buckler, Arda Kurama and Amelia Martin will represent the Class of 2023 at Penn’s Commencement Ceremony, 7 p.m., Monday, June 5, at the University of Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

Click here for Commencement information.

Valedictorians

Sakina Al-Fadhl

Parents: Gamilah Rajeh and Dahan Al-Fadhl

Elementary School: Prairie Vista

Middle School: Schmucker

College Plans: Majoring in Neuroscience at IU Bloomington

Career Plans: Plans to attend medical school

Activities/honors: National Honor Society, Penn Advocates for Thinking Healthy (PATH) Executive, Muslim Student Association (MSA) Vice-President, Academic Super Bowl, Medical Club, Freshman Mentoring, Model U.N., French Club, Violinist in Symphonic Orchestra, National Merit Finalist

Ryan Cheng

Parents: May Cheng and Steve Cheng

Elementary School (Earliest to Most Recent): Brookfield Elementary School (in Masury, Ohio), Plantation Park Elementary School (in Bossier City, Louisiana), Liberty Elementary School (in Mishawaka, Indiana)

Middle School: John Young Middle School (in Mishawaka, Indiana)

College Plans: New York University, planning to major in Data Science

Career Plans: Data analytics at Bloomberg or other major New York firms

Activities/Honors: Robotics [FIRST Tech Challenge (2019-2020), FIRST Robotics Competition (2021-2023)], Quiz Bowl (2019-2023), National Honor Society (2021-2023), National Merit Semi-Finalist (2023), U.S Presidential Scholars Nominee (2023)

Tanya Datta

Parents: Anjuli Datta and Suman Datta

Elementary school: Horizon

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Cornell University

Career plans: Computer Science, Software Engineer

Activities/honors: Rising Star of Indiana Class of 2023, National Merit Finalist, U.S. Presidential Nominee and Candidate, AP Scholar with Distinction, Science Academic Superbowl Captain, TEAMS, National Honor Society, Kingsmen Tutor, Kingsmen Court, Girls Who Code, Research at Notre Dame

Eshaal Kizilbash

Parents: Aeliya Mir and Asad Kizilbash

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Majoring in Neuroscience at Northwestern University

Career plans: Oncology

Activities/honors: Key Club President, Kingsmen Court Executive, National Honor Society, Science Academic Super Bowl, National Merit Finalist

Gwynth Lannon

Parents: Linnea Lannon and Kevin Lannon

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame, to study English and physics

Career plans: Author, Professor, Editor

Activities/honors: Spectrum editor, Symphonic Orchestra, Orchestra Leadership, cross country Academic All-State, track and field, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor, Science National Honor Society, ISSMA district and state solo and ensemble Gold Medals, Dried Ink Contest Winner, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Regional Silver and Gold Keys and National Silver Medal

David Luan

Parents: Yan Gao and Guanglei Luan

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Neuroscience at University of Notre Dame

Career Plans: Doctor

Activities/honors: National Honor Society, DECA, Tennis, Kingsmen Tutor, TEAMS, TSA, Medical Club, Handwritten Hearts, Key Club, PACA

Reagan Ludwig

Parents: Jennifer Ludwig and David Ludwig

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician

Activities/honors: Handwritten Hearts Club (president), Penn soccer and tennis, National Honor Society (vice-president), Freshmen Mentor, Girl Talk Mentor, Piano player, Special Outdoor Leisure Opportunities ski volunteer, St. Joseph Hospital volunteer, Key Club member, Penn Poetry Club member, Penn Girls Soccer Kingsman Award, National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Zenia Qasim

Parents: Saadia Qasim and Asghar Qasim

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Indiana University; neuroscience and business

Career plans: Physician

Activities/honors: Key Club, National Honor Society, Freshmen Mentor, Kingsmen Tutor, MSA, Medical Club; awarded Burger King Scholarship

Abigail Schroeder

Parents: Manmam Schroeder and Eric Schroeder

Elementary school: Northpoint Elementary

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue University to study biomedical health sciences

Career plans: Gene Therapist

Activities/honors: Freshmen Mentoring (Executive), Chinese Club (Vice President), Kingsmen Tutoring Leader, National Honor Society, Key Club, English Academic Superbowl, Medical Club, AP Scholar with Distinction

Derick Shi

Parents: Guoyun Liu and Zonggao Shi

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: University of Notre Dame, Computer Science

Career plans: Software engineer, data scientist, or AI engineer

Activities/honors: Discovery Middle School Mathcounts Head Coach, Math Academic Super Bowl Captain, Science Academic Super Bowl Captain, Technology Student Association Executive, Tests of Engineering Aptitude Mathematics and Science, National Honors Society, Key Club, Model United Nations, Notre Dame Center for Civic Innovation Intern, American Math Competition, Indiana Math League, Mathcon, Trine Math Competition, Inspirit AI Camp, National Merit Finalist, Spectrum Dried Ink Poetry Contest, AP Scholar with Distinction

Sydney Szklarek

Parents: Melanie Szklarek and David Szklarek

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Civil/Environmental Engineer

Activities/honors: Captain of Penn Girls Soccer, Student-Athlete Leadership Council, Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Honor Society, Vice President of Handwritten Hearts, Key Club, Leader of Discovery Girl Talk Club, Girls Golf, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Candidate for U.S Presidential Scholar, National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, Soccer Academic All-State, 2022 Penn Girls Soccer Program Pillar Award

Grace Wang

Parents: Hong Zhu and Guoyao Wang

Elementary school: Prairie Vista

Middle school: Schmucker

College plans: University of Notre Dame majoring in Global Affairs

Career plans: Becoming a software developer with a focus in the ethics of algorithms and AI, or possibly the field of cybersecurity

Activities/honors: Key Club, PATH (executive), Model U.N., English Academic Super Bowl (state champions in 2021 and 2022), Fine Arts Academic Super Bowl, Marching Band (Section Leader), Band (Flute), Piano, Asian Student Union (Co-President), Pep Band, Freshmen Mentoring, Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Merit Finalist

Zichu Wang

Parents: Chu He and Ting Wang

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Carnegie Mellon University, Business Major and Computer Science Minor

Career plans: Business/Economics Professor

Activities/honors: Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Merit Scholarship Winner, Indiana Elks Association Scholarship Winner, Coca Cola Foundation Scholarship Semifinalist, Indiana Rising Star, AP Scholar with Distinction, Notre Dame Center for Civic Innovation Intern, SBYSO Principal Violist, SBYSO 2023 Concerto Competition Winner, ISSMA State Solo Perfect Score, Model U.N. Executive, I.U. Model U.N. VIII FIFA Council 3rd Place Delegate, Discovery Middle School MathCounts Assistant Head Coach, Penn Tennis, Penn Tennis JV Invite No. 2 Doubles Tournament Champion, TSA Executive, Indiana TSA Conference 1st Place Coding, MathCon Honorable Mention, TEAMS Executive, TEAMS 3rd Place State, Science and Math Academic Superbowl, National Honor Society, Key Club, Indiana Math League, Kingsmen Tutor

Carl Xu

Parents: Alice Yang and Dale Xu

Elementary school: Mary Frank

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue

Career plans: Computer Hardware Engineer; Virtual Reality (VR) Start-up

Activities/honors: Hibachi Host

Allison Yu

Parents: Haiyan Yin and Richard Yu

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Yale University, majoring in Economics & Mathematics

Career plans: PhD. in finance, Quantitative finance, professor

Activities/honors: Lilly Endowment Scholar, National Merit Scholar Finalist, Indiana Rising Star, AP Scholar with Distinction, Indiana Regional Academic All-Star, Presidential Scholar Candidate, Model U.N. Executive, Science Academic Super Bowl Team Captain, Kingsmen Court Executive, Discovery Middle School MathCounts Coach, Notre Dame Research Assistant, Research Assistant at I.U. Bureau of Business and Economic Research, MathCon, Kingsmen Tutoring, Key Club, National Honor Society

Janet Yu

Parents: Lijun Bai and Liguo Yu

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Computer Science

Activities/honors: Mathcon 10th grade Honorable Mention, Mathcon 11th grade Bronze Medalist, 2X AIME qualifier, 2022-2023 Jane Street AMC 12 A Certificate of Excellence, Indiana Math League state top-scorer, Math Superbowl member, Discovery Middle School Mathcounts Assistant Head Coach, NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing Certificate of Distinction, 2x Indiana State Debate Tournament Semifinalist, NSDA National Tournament Qualifier, Speech and Debate Team Captain, Discovery Middle School Debate Coach, U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidate, National Merit Scholarship winner, Rising Stars of Indiana Class of 2023, AP Scholar with Distinction, Kingsmen Tutoring Leader, Freshmen Mentor, Key Club member, National Honor Society member, bioinformatics research at IUSB

Madelyn Zavada

Parents: Nicole Zavada and Michael Zavada

Elementary school: Horizon

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Purdue, with the intention of studying Computer Engineering

Career plans: Computer Engineering

Activities/honors: Captain of the English Academic Super Bowl team, state champions in 2021 Captain of the Social Studies Academic Super Bowl team Captain of the Interdisciplinary Academic Super Bowl team, state runner-up in 2022 Kingsmen Tutor/Kingsmen Tutor Leader Discovery Middle School MathCounts coach Member of Penn Coding Club Tutoring Spanish speaking students at Schmucker Middle School

Salutatorians

Allison Adams

Parents: Allison Adams and Robert Adams

Elementary School: Northpoint

Middle School: Discovery 

College Plans: Purdue University

Career Plans: Human Resources Management / Management Consulting

Activities/honors: Penn Robotics Team 135 Outreach Lead, 2X FIRST Robotics Dean’s List Semi-Finalist, CTE Presidential Scholar nominee for Penn High School

Anna Buckler

Parents: Megan and Michael Buckler

Elementary School: Sand Pine (Wesley Chapel, FL)

Middle School: Dr. John Long (Wesley Chapel, FL)

College Plans: Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.

Career Plans: I plan to work in a Non-Profit Organization in a position that allows me to travel and advocate for others’ rights

Activities/Honors: Participated in Marching Band entire high school career, holding the positions of Section Leader and Assistant Section Leader junior and senior years, also been in Jazz Band and Symphonic Orchestra, as well as National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and Tri-M, JV Girls Basketball Team for one year, earned the Most Outstanding Underclassman in AP Chemistry Award in 2022 and gold medals on both a solo and an ensemble piece for ISSMA in 2023

Arda Kurama

Parents: Cigdem Kurama and Yahya Kurama

Elementary school: Northpoint

Middle school: Discovery

College plans: Notre Dame

Career plans: Computer Science, Piano Performance

Activities/honors: Robotics FRC & FTC, Coding Club, TSA, Symphonic Winds, ISSMA

Amelia Martin

Parents: Kirsten and Patrick Martin

Elementary school: Montgomery Knolls Elementary School (Silver Spring, MD)

Middle school: Eastern Middle School (Silver Spring, MD)

College plans: UC Davis, majoring in Computer science engineering

Career plans: Earning a PhD surrounding AI and the ethics behind computer science, pursuing a career in academia to teach and research.

Activities/honors: Graduated a semester early and started working as a research assistant for Notre Dame; ran track and cross country and played basketball for two years at Penn.