West Shore Jr./Sr. High School’s Julien Wakim Named Brevard Nominee for Presidential Scholar Award

By  //  November 7, 2020

Wakim earned a perfect score of five on an astounding 11 Advanced Placement exams

The Brevard Public Schools Office of Secondary Leading and Learning announced West Shore Jr./Sr. High School senior Julien Wakim has been chosen as the BPS nominee for the U.S. Presidential Scholar Award.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The Brevard Public Schools Office of Secondary Leading and Learning announced West Shore Jr./Sr. High School senior Julien Wakim has been chosen as the BPS nominee for the U.S. Presidential Scholar Award.

The mission of this program, established in 1964, is to recognize and honor superior high school seniors.

As a result of his dedication to education, Wakim has already earned the AP Scholar with Distinction Award, having earned a perfect score of five on an astounding 11 Advanced Placement exams associated with his completed AP coursework.

“As you can certainly imagine, I am very proud of Julien for being the outstanding young adult that he is as he sets an example for all to follow,” said West Shore principal Rick Fleming.

He continues to academically challenge himself this year and will have completed 16 Advanced Placement courses by the time he ends his tenure at West Shore, including the coveted AP Capstone Diploma.

In light of such a demanding schedule, Wakim has proven his ability to balance a rigorous course load by earning a weighted grade point average of 4.57/4.0 and the prestigious title of valedictorian.

He has also placed first at the Brevard Mainland Regional Science Fair in 2018 and received Special Recognition and a Florida Entomological Society Biomedical Award for his outstanding research.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.

At Florida International University, Wakim was invited to aid in the research of multinucleated giant cancer cells, analyzing multiple research articles and creating experiments and also shadowed other researchers in the lab, learning common lab techniques as well as specialized procedures for cell culturing and using the centrifuge.

Wakim is also recognized as an academically elite National Merit Semifinalist students for his superior score on his PSAT.

Wakim has managed to perfect the task of excelling not only in the classroom but also in extracurricular activities.

The West Shore activities and athletics programs have greatly benefited from his participation and leadership roles in the National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society and on the Wildcat varsity basketball team.

In addition to Wakim’s accomplishments at West Shore, he has proven his dedication to the Brevard community through nearly 200 hours of volunteerism as a volunteer at Health First’s Viera Hospital.

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