Whiz Kid of the Week - Shachi Prasad

Shachi Prasad, Age 12
Schools: Seventh-grader at Challenger School, Shawnee and Young Genius Educational Center in Saratoga, CA

Accomplishments:
• Double Octafinalist at 30th Annual Stanford National Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament, January 2016
• Third Place at Extemporaneous Speaking at 16th Annual Harker Middle School Speech and Debate Tournament, December 2015
• Silver Medalist in Lincoln Douglas at Bay Area Urban Debate League Speeech and Debate Tournament, November 2015

• Straight-A student at Challenger School, Shawnee
• 3rd Place at 2015 Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship

Key to Awesomeness:
Shachi started debating this year only but have excelled competitively against middle and high school participants. She enjoys debate and speech, as it teaches her communication, reasoning, and critical thinking skills. “She is soft spoken but a natural debater and speaker, confident and articulate,” said Young Genius’ Debate Director, Mr. Don Heinsohn.

Shachi’s other passion is music and dance. She has won several awards at dance competitions like Charitable Care Foundation Rass-Garba, film and folk dance competition, ICC Youthsava Dance Competition, and many others. She is also learning Indian classical dance Kathak and Indian classical music.

To stay fit and active, she does competitive swimming and martial arts. “She is always willing to experiment new things, willing to learn new ideas, and is not afraid of hard work in order to make things happen,” said Shachi’s parents.