Hannah Shadrick didn’t show up for the 2007 Chattanooga Nautilus Awards Luncheon last October even though she was one of three finalists for the Pearl of Promise Award. Not to worry. She had a perfectly legitimate excuse. On the day of the ceremonies Hannah was leading her team to victory in the girls state volleyball play-offs in Nashville.

While the 17-year-old GPS senior accumulated the kills, digs and aces that would earn her the Most Valuable Player distinction, Jerry Shannon, Hannah’s AP calculus teacher—who nominated her for the Nautilus award—collected the prize on her behalf at The Chattanoogan.

In fact, Hannah learned that she had scored a big win in Chattanooga just moments after the GPS victory in the last game of the state semifinals. “My dad, who is our team trainer, told me as I was walking off the court,” Hannah said. “The emotions from volleyball and then the award were just too much. I literally collapsed on the bench and sobbed.”

The Pearl of Promise is presented to a female high school junior or senior with a strong aptitude in science and math, outstanding leadership skills and a career goal in a non-traditional field.

The award criteria sound as if they were written with Hannah in mind. Her prep school resume in both academic and extracurricular achievements is lengthy and varied. About the only thing she hasn’t done at GPS is lead cheers, and Hannah covered that base by portraying a cheerleader in a school production of “Grease.”

Besides captaining the volleyball and climbing teams, the versatile senior is her class representative on the Honor Council, president of the literary society and a member of the debate club. She also sings with Zammarin, the St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church band.

Equally impressive are Hannah’s chops in the classroom where she has racked up an over the top grade point average of 4.01.

“She knows she is destined for a career involving mathematics or medicine,” says Jerry Shannon, her calculus instructor. “So she has consistently chosen challenging coursework, including honors mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics, as well as honors English and foreign languages.”

Hannah’s mother, Sharon, teaches at Sequatchie County Middle School, while her father, Mark, is a SCADA supervisor at Tennessee-American Water Company. “My initiative and diligence are a direct result of my parents pushing me when I was younger,” Hannah says. “I’m only successful because of my parents’ continual concern and love in my life.”

The Pearl of Promise Award provides the winner with a $2,500 college scholarship and a laptop. “The scholarship will take me another step closer to any college I choose,” said Hannah, who is considering Boston University, Northeastern and Wellesley. “And my old computer was slow and incompatible with some the latest software. Now everything actually works!”