Wendy’s High School Heisman Blog

Wendy's High School Heisman

2008 PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

For the past fourteen years, Wendy’s Restaurants have teamed up with the Heisman Memorial Trophy Committee to create the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. The award honors both male and female high school students who excel in academics, athletics, and student leadership.

This year, we want to hear from ALL student-athletes who work hard, are dedicated, and have become role models for your school’s underclassmen! Your school can have as many applicants as meet the eligibility criteria! Any eligible student can register and begin the application process.

Applications are due October 1st at 5pm CST.

>> Apply at WendysHeisman.com

Your College Draft

Wendy's Heisman April 29th, 2009

As many of you probably noticed, the NFL draft was this weekend. I’m sure some of you watched the spectacle as the professional football teams went through and picked their favorite rising college athletes. From home, it can often seem like teams are simply picking their favorites first, but there’s a good bit of strategy involved – snatching picks which rivals might want for trading rights, leaving picks you know you can get for later rounds, and putting your long term strategy before the quick flash player.

Deciding which college to go to is very similar to the NFL draft, albeit turned on its head. As a potential college student, you’re the one drafting the schools which puts you in a position closer to an NFL team than a player. Like those NFL teams, you have to consider a whole host of things – how much does that school afford, what kind of education does it offer, and does that school fit with your long term strategy.

Once you’ve determined what schools meet your personal criteria, then you’re basically arranging your schools into a draft priority, with your top pick being the first round while you’re safety school falls somewhere closer to the seventh round. After that, getting your the draft picks you want comes down to maximizing your attractiveness to those schools through things like grade point average, high school awards, and sports.

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Let’s Talk Sports

Wendy's Heisman April 24th, 2009

The Heisman Trophy is given out annually to college football’s most outstanding player. The Wendy’s High School Heisman also has sports as one of the requirements of our high school award. However, Wendy’s doesn’t limit our winners to football. We actually have quite a lengthy list of sports which quality applicants.

So, if you’re on your school’s equestrian team, you can still apply for the Wendy’s High School Heisman. Cross country runners are eligible too. As are golfers, skiers, and fencers. In fact, most sports from badminton to wrestling will qualify for the sports portion of the application.
You can find the complete list of sports below:

• Badminton
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bowling
• Canoeing
• Competitive Spirit/Cheerleading
• Competitive Weight Lifting
• Crew
• Cross Country
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Field Hockey
• Football
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Ice Hockey
• Judo
• Lacrosse
• Skiing
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming and Diving
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• Water Polo
• Wrestling

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The Early Bird Gets Their Application In

Wendy's Heisman March 27th, 2009

The other week I talked about doing things for college prior to starting your senior year. The basic point is that the more you get done ahead of time, the more time you have to spend with your friends enjoying your Senior Year, the one you’ve likely been waiting for since you started school.

Well, the first things we can talk about doing is submitting your application for the 2009 Wendy’s High School Heisman. Yup, Wendy’s is going to start accepting submissions on April 1st this year. As per the previous few years, entrants must be graduating with the Class of 2010, have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better, and participate in a school-sponsored sport.

If you meet those three criteria right now, I would highly recommend submitting early. In the past, early submitters received free Wendy’s gift certificates.

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Junior Days

Wendy's Heisman March 5th, 2009

Spring Break is right around the corner, and for those of you in the class of 2010, that means you’re practically done with high school. Yes, I know, you still have that whole Senior Year thing to deal with, the crowning moment after more than a decade of being elsewhere on the food chain, but trust me, the year will go, and it’ll go fast.

In a lot of ways, it doesn’t seem fair. Senior year is the big one, the last one where you’re with your friends and family in the same setting you’ve known for a long time. It’s the year when you’re at the top of the mountain. But, it’s also likely to be the busiest year of your life so far. On top of classes, extracurricular activities, and your senior project, you’ve got the million step process that is getting in to college. Oh, and you don’t even get the entire year to do the whole college prep thing, you basically have to have that wrapped up by this time next year.

So, the end of junior year, when you’re really fixated on being a senior, on being the King or Queen of your school, it might just be helpful to take a look and see if you can’t just line everything up now. Ask yourself what parts of the college application process can you bang out as a Junior? Because everything you get done this year is something you don’t have to do next year. Might as well enjoy your time at the top.

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They’re Here! Final 12 Announced

Wendy's Heisman December 3rd, 2008

While the nation was getting ready for Thanksgiving, and fall was showing up, the list of State Winners were trimmed down to just 12 deserving National Finalists. I’m not going to spoil the surprise for any of the hopefuls, but I am going to tease with just a snippet from the page where the actual finalists are listed.

finalist snippet
You can check over at the Wendy’s Heisman website to see if you’re one of the 12 National Finalists. Then you can tune into ESPN2 (the deuce) on Sunday, December 14th between 6:30 and 7:00pm EST to see which two of these lucky dozen seniors get this year’s Wendy’s High School Heisman Award.

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State Winners are In!

Wendy's Heisman November 10th, 2008

Well folks, we’ve made it to the first big cull in the Wendy’s High School Heisman. Because of the way that the people submitted their applications, many states had fewer school finalists than the maximum number of state finalists. This meant that in some states, every school finalist automatically became a state finalist.

For 102 people, however, the presentation ceremony and winning this rather prestigious high school award just got one giant step closer. You can find the list below:

Leif Karlberg

Grace Christian School
Anchorage, AK

Molly Watkins
Kenai Central High School
Kenai, AK

Madeline Morgan
Mountain Brook High School
Mountain Brook, AL

Wade Ash
Escambia Academy
Atmore, AL

Julie Sherrill
Dumas High School
Dumas, AR

Steven Riley
Pulaski Academy
Little Rock, AR

Courtney Mccaughey
Red Mountain High School
Mesa, AZ

Stephen Estes
North High School
Phoenix, AZ

Andrew Yang
Whitney High School
Cerritos, CA

Ashley Bedi
Tokay High School
Lodi, CA

Brian Ford

Alamosa High School
Alamosa, CO

Christa Loyd
Wray High School
Wray, CO

Irene Kalbian
Cheshire High School
Cheshire, CT

Joseph Rigby
Suffield High School
West Suffield, CT

Christina Clark
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
Washington, DC

Marcus Thornton
Spingarn Senior High School
Washington, DC

Curtis Ramsey
Charter School of Wilmington
Wilmington, DE

Hilary Merlo
Cape Henlopen High School
Lewes, DE

Lauren Verbosky
East Bay High School
Gibsonton, FL

Noah Mosley
Rocky Bayou Christian School
Niceville, FL

Caitlin Jordan
Union Grove High School
McDonough, GA

William Ficklen

Spalding High School
Griffin, GA

Christian Putegnat
James Campbell High School
Ewa Beach, HI

Jacqueline Owens

Lahainaluna High School
Lahaina, HI

John Engler

Saint Edmond High School
Fort Dodge, IA

Taylor Smith
Central Decatur Jr-Sr High Sch
Leon, IA

Caleb Crim
Fruitland High School
Fruitland, ID

Hillary Byars
Payette High School
Payette, ID

Mary Buzzard
Lutheran High School
Rockford, IL

Rahul Kamath
Community Hs Dist 99 South Hs
Downers Grove, IL

Creasy Clauser
Southmont High School
Crawfordsville, IN

Tylor Gauger
Kokomo High School So Campus
Kokomo, IN

Daniel Jones
Goddard Senior High School
Goddard, KS

Elizabeth Marden
Olathe East High School
Olathe, KS

Brooke Ahern
Bardstown High School
Bardstown, KY

John Bush
Rose Hill Christian School
Ashland, KY

Brianne Bergeron
H L Bourgeois High School
Gray, LA

Joseph Caraway
Lacassine High School
Lacassine, LA

Gregory Hughes
Plymouth North High School
Plymouth, MA

Lauren Schultz
Hopkinton High School
Hopkinton, MA

Austin Wigley
James M Bennett High School
Salisbury, MD

Lindsay Chetelat
Stephen Decatur High School
Berlin, MD

Brett Bradford
Bangor Christian Schools
Bangor, ME

Hailey Chadbourne
Gardiner Area High School
Gardiner, ME

April Emerson
Morley-Stanwood High School
Morley, MI

Ethan Smith
Hillsdale Academy
Hillsdale, MI

Jonas Dale
Pequot Lakes High School
Pequot Lakes, MN

Laura Bellamy
Denfeld High School
Duluth, MN

Jessica Borey
Worth County R-Iii School
Grant City, MO

Tyler Abma
Miller High School
Miller, MO

Austin Harrison

Winston Academy
Louisville, MS

Jessy Davis
Copiah Academy
Gallman, MS

Caitlin Smith
Malta High School
Malta, MT

Casey Knudsen

Malta High School
Malta, MT

Lea Godwin

Triton High School
Erwin, NC

Michael Bass
Fairmont High School
Fairmont, NC

Kalai Lundquist

Northern Cass High School
Hunter, ND

Scott Roemmich

Linton Public School
Linton, ND

Emily Pribyl

Geneva High School
Geneva, NE

Preston Bolte
McCool Junction High School
McCool Junction, NE

Benjamin Winchell

Belmont High School
Belmont, NH

Rachel Hedge

Manchester Memorial High School
Manchester, NH

Marc Kunesch
Pope John XXIII Regl High School
Sparta, NJ

Melanie Thompson
Voorhees High School
Glen Gardner, NJ

James Reeves
Santa Rosa High School
Santa Rosa, NM

Priscilla Del Aguila
Rio Grande High School
Albuquerque, NM

Brett Leibowitz
The Meadows School
Las Vegas, NV

Caitlin Forrester
Boulder City High School
Boulder City, NV

Jonathan Beabout

Royalton-Hartland Central School
Middleport, NY

Kristine Faulknham

Thousand Islands High School
Clayton, NY

Cody Strahler

Waterford High School
Waterford, OH

Evann Heidersbach
Elyria Catholic High School
Elyria, OH

Constance Ezugha
Edmond Santa Fe High School
Edmond, OK

Daniel Epley
Lone Grove High School
Lone Grove, OK

Kaitlyn Nord
Junction City Sr High School
Junction City, OR

Terence Travess
Springfield Senior High School
Springfield, OR

Dom Stasulli
Shenandoah Valley High School
Shenandoah, PA

Joseph O’Hara
Wyoming Valley West High Sch
Plymouth, PA

David Hurley
Chariho Regional High School
Wood River Junction, RI

Natasha Strick
North Smithfield Jr-Sr High Sc
North Smithfield, RI

Amy Simpkins
Woodruff High School
Woodruff, SC

Thomas Jordan
Dillon Christian School
Dillon, SC

Kyle Auch
Menno High School
Menno, SD

Kylee Lamb
Sully Buttes High School
Onida, SD

Joseph Tipton

Maryville High School
Maryville, TN

Kathy Kroeger
Independence High School
Thompson Station, TN

Hilary Kitchen
Concordia Academy
Austin, TX

Marcus Wong

J. B. Alexander High School
Laredo, TX

Jordan Ellett
Wayne High School
Bicknell, UT

Shelli Richardson

Millard High School
Fillmore, UT

Christopher York
Clarke County High School
Berryville, VA

Hannah Varnell
Gloucester High School
Gloucester, VA

Charles Chapman
Lyndon Institute
Lyndon Center, VT

Courtney Rohrig
Black River High School
Ludlow, VT

Joshua Kutz

John F. Kennedy Memorial High School
Burien, WA

Lauren Kuhn
Weatherwax (Aberdeen) High Sch
Aberdeen, WA

Brandon Meckelberg

Wautoma High School
Wautoma, WI

Hannah Turnbull
Hayward High School
Hayward, WI

Travis Green

South Charleston High School
South Charleston, WV

Victoria Giffen
Bridgeport High School
Bridgeport, WV

Kristian Ward

Glenrock High School
Glenrock, WY

Wendy Davis

Evanston High School
Evanston, WY

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We’ve Got Our State Finalists

Wendy's Heisman November 4th, 2008

The first round winners have been parsed, and we now have our finalists for the upcoming State Competition.

First, those of you who made the list (and you can check that here), keep November 7th in mind. That’s the day when the 102 State winners will be selected. That’s one male and one female from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Here’s some numbers for you – there are currently only no more than 20 finalists in each state, ten from each gender. That means every person who is currently a finalist has approximately a 10% chance of advancing to the next round.

State finalists receive a second letter, this time with a $25 gift card, a bronze medal, and a Heisman patch. State finalists are also one giant step closer to winning the prestigious high school award. The remaining steps include State Winners (51 male and 51 female), National Finalists (6 male and 6 female based on geographic regions), and then the two National Winners.

And for those interested, you can read more about the aware timeline here.

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2008 First Round Winners Announced

Wendy's Heisman October 24th, 2008

The first round of winners has been announced by the folks at the Wendy’s High School Heisman, thus starting the march towards the December and the presentation to the ultimate winners of the high school award. As previously mentioned, the first round winners are those at the school level. And those winners include one male and one female student from each applicants school. So, understandably that’s a relatively large list, 992 names to be exact.

Each of these winners will receive a letter commemorating their achievements, a School Winner certificate, a Heisman patch, as well as a $10 Wendy’s gift card.

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The Final Moments

Wendy's Heisman October 1st, 2008

We are mere hours from the close of this year’s Wendy’s High School Heisman award. This means we’re entering the more exciting period, the march to December when this year’s winner will be announced. For those of you who’ve already entered your application, this means you in for the wait. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you in the lurch. Much like last year, I’ll be posting news as it comes, so that if you are advancing to the next rounds, you can find out about it here.

If you’re still pulling your application together, time to start putting on those finishing touches. Unlike last year, when the application window closed a minute before midnight CST, this year’s application process locks down at 5pm CST today.

For the juniors, it’s never too early to start shoring up your applications for next year’s high school award. That application, while not difficult, can be a fairly time consuming process. Though Wendy’s hasn’t released the requirements for next year, we can look at this year’s requirements and figure that next year’s will be fairly similar.

Here’s this year’s requirements:
• Are a high school senior and are graduating in the Class of 2009
• Participate in at least one school-sponsored, extracurricular sport
• Have maintained at least a B (3.0) GPA during their first three years of high school

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Time’s Running Out

Wendy's Heisman September 22nd, 2008

Time’s running out for this year’s High School award, the Wendy’s High School Heisman. The seniors out there have about a week and a half left to get their submissions in. Supply is also running low for your chances to score yourself from free food.
Granted, of all the reasons to apply for the Wendy’s High School Heisman – the prestige of a winning a national award, setting yourself apart from other applicants, the chance to attend the Heisman Award Dinner in New York City – a free Wendy’s gift certificate ranks below the big ones. However, that’s not saying that a gift certificate isn’t a welcomed thing. And the odds are a lot better.
How much better? Well, the first 41,100 high school seniors that apply for the Wendy’s High School Heisman are guaranteed to get a Wendy’s gift certificate. And if you’re as busy during your senior year as I was during mine, the ability to grab a meal on the go is necessary, and that gift card makes it free.

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