Smyrna's Michael Chan Nominated "First Tee"

Feb 23, 2015 at 01:32 pm by bryan


Michael Chan, from The First Tee of Smyrna, has been selected as one of eight semifinalists for The First Tee Outstanding Participant Award presented by Shell Oil Company. This national award recognizes exemplary achievement in the area of academics, community service, chapter involvement and leadership.

As a semifinalist for The First Tee Outstanding Participant Award, Michael will attend The First Tee Outstanding Participant & Leadership Summit, an interactive and educational event in which teen participants will have the opportunity to develop and hone skills to become leaders in their chapters, schools and communities. The summit will be held March 11-15, 2015 in Dallas in conjunction with The First Tee Network Meeting, a biennial conference for chapter representatives of The First Tee.

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Among the dignitaries scheduled to address the teenagers at the summit are New York Times bestselling author James Patterson and World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam.

Educational workshops during the summit will cover a variety of topics including the importance of community service and volunteerism, financial literacy, social media and more and will be presented by experts in these fields. During the workshops, Michael Chan will develop plans for leading a meaningful service project in our community as a way to apply the skills and concepts learned at the three-day summit.

Michael Chan, 17, is a junior at Murfreesboro's Central Magnet School. He exemplifies the leadership skills and characteristics that The First Tee tries to instill in all of its Outstanding Participants. Active at his chapter for 7 years, he has dedicated his time into the development of the youth through the game of golf as a junior coach for the First Tee of Smyrna. He has also assisted in the Lipscomb/Nissan Robotics camps as a camp counselor in order to invest in the STEM leaders of the next generation, served as treasurer for the Executive Student Council at Central Magnet, and avidly participated in Mu Alpha Theta with goals to better the school community through the art and principles of mathematics.

"I would like to give a warm, sincere thanks to The First Tee for selecting me for such an honor and opportunity to meet with other First Tee participants from across the nation in order to discuss and learn about possible ways we can lead and impact the future of America. I would also like to thank The First Tee of Smyrna, the coaches, fellow students, friends, and family. I have spent my whole childhood growing up with this program, and without everyone's support and encouragement none of this would be possible."

"The First Tee of Smyrna is proud to have Michael Chan selected as the Outstanding Participant from our chapter. Michael has been in our The First Tee program since he was 10 years old, and has come to exemplify what we teach at The First Tee of Smyrna. Michael uses The First Tee Life Skills to guide his decisions on and off the golf course," Hal Loflin, Executive Director of The First Tee of Smyrna.

Two finalists will be announced during the Network Meeting Gala Dinner on Saturday, March 14 and each will receive a $20,000 scholarship. The remaining semifinalists will each receive a $2,500 scholarship.

About The First Tee of Smyrna:

The First Tee of Smyrna was established in 2001 with the opening of the Smyrna Executive Golf Course, a 9-hole par 29 golf course. The Smyrna facility became a 27-hole golf course with a regulation 18-hole par 72 and the executive 9-hole par 29. The First Tee offers training in golf skills and life skills and provides scholarship opportunities. Our goal at the First Tee of Smyrna is for our juniors to enjoy learning golf, have fun and have the opportunity to advance as far as they want with golf. We offer the exposure to life skills that will also help them in learning golf skills through progression through the different levels of The First Tee.

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