House Leadership and Committee Chairs
Speaker of the House - Michael Benos
After serving as a delegate troublemaker, a mock-delegate muckraker, and a crisis committee volunteer, Michael is honored to have been chosen to serve as Speaker of the House. His home committee is Science and Technology, but feel free to seek his advice for bill ideas during the conference. As a senior at Maggie Walker, this will be his last (but best) official WMC!
House Majority Leader - Annie Zhang
Annie Zhang is a junior at Maggie Walker and is very excited to serve as this year’s House majority leader. She joined the Maggie Walker Model Congress Club as a freshman, and vice-chaired the SCOTUS committee at WMC 2015. Aside from Model Congress, she can be found playing varsity tennis, practicing the piano, getting way too excited about cinematography, and wasting more time on the internet than she cares to admit.
House Minority Leader - Zach Bampton
Many people look up to Zach Bampton, but he’s just a regular mortal like you; he puts his suit pants on one leg at a time just everyone else. That wasn’t always the case however; when he was first born he indeed had three legs. His family cast him into the wild, where he learned debate and rhetoric from the venerable squirrel elders. Such a miracle has never been witnessed before or since. Zach Bampton is a veteran of Model Congress, serving in various official and unofficial capacities over his four years at Maggie Walker, and attended WMC as a seventh and eighth grader. In his free time- and all this is actually true- Zach enjoys reading postmodernist literature, watching culturally significant movies, and dabbling in humor and satire. It is rumored the Minority Leader may also have an evil twin that staffs the Crisis Team in their spare time. Or it might just be him in a mustache. Zach Bampton was not available for comment after writing this bio.
Education and Workforce - Yug Rao
Yug Rao is a sophomore at MLWGS and is thrilled to chair the Education and Workforce committee. His favorite subjects in school are math and science, and aspires to be an engineer one day. He is passionate about space flight and aeronautics, and is currently participating in the Virginia Space Coast Scholars Program. Aside from Model Congress, he likes to travel, participate in Quizbowl and Robotics, and play the piano. He is very interested in technology and computers. He is part of the TSA and Programming clubs, and can program in many languages! Yug has participated in robotics over the past 5 years in FLL, FTC, VEX Robotics, and FRC, where his team has won many state-level awards. In his free time, he likes reading, playing video games, and volunteering. Yug also participates in Indian cultural activities and is part of his school's Bhangra Club. Last summer, he even choreographed a Indian folk dance for a nonprofit organization. He is excited to chair at this year's WMC and hopes for a great conference!
Education and Workforce - Cade Elliott
Cade Elliott, a sophomore at MLWGS, is elated to chair the Education and Workforce committee. Outside of school, Cade enjoys swimming at Nova, playing trumpet, and traveling the world. To see some of his earlier travels, and make fun of some embarrassing pictures of him, just go to http://whereiscade.blogspot.com. Also check out his (not really his) twitter page, https://twitter.com/cadeelliott123, for some hearty laughs. He is looking forward to chairing a great committee this year full of great debate and plenty of fun!
Science, Space, and Technology - Bay Penny
Bay Penny is going to raise the roof of WMC – perhaps one day literally as the world’s next great architect, but for now he is excited to use his skills and talents to take the Science, Space and Technology committee to a whole new level. When he’s not debating bills WMC, you can find him playing the guitar, writing and original Sci-Fi novel, or sitting behind his desk sketching the future in his sketchbook. As a Junior at Maggie Walker, Bay excels at mathematics and sciences, making him a welcome asset to the committee! He is thrilled to be a chair on the science and tech committee at WMC.
Science, Space, and Technology - Harrison Vaughan
Harrison Vaughan, a junior at Maggie Walker, is eager to co-chair the Science, Space, and Technology committee in this year’s Walker Model Congress. Harrison has always been keen to learn about new things, which is a large cause of his affiliation with the sciences. However, he also enjoys learning about history and governmental activities. His leisure time is often spent playing video games, hanging out with friends, and volunteering. Harrison is very excited to monitor debate in the Science, Space, and Technology committee in this year’s Walker Model Congress and hopes that you are as enthusiastic about debate!
Energy and Commerce - Nate Taminger
Nate Taminger, a sophomore at Maggie Walker, is excited to co-chair the Energy and Commerce Committee in this years Walker Model Congress with his co-chair Catherine Qian. He has served in WMC for the past two years, as a delegate in the Energy and Commerce Committee two years ago and as the vice-chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year. When he is not chairing a committee in Walker Model Congress, Nate enjoys hanging out with friends, reading, and spending time with his pets. He is a member of the school's JV volleyball team in the fall and the tennis team in the spring. Nate looks forward to meeting all of the delegates this year and hopes the conference is a resounding success for all delegates.
Energy and Commerce - Catherine Qian
Catherine Qian is a sophomore at Maggie Walker who participated in Walker Model Congress last year as a volunteer but is now excited to be serving as one of the chairs this year for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce with her friend Nate. Outside of Model Congress, Catherine is also active in Model UN, Forensics, Quizbowl, and EduPAC, and SECSEE. Her interests include classical music, food (eating and cooking), all kinds of literature (especially Poe), the French language, world history, and video games. She also teaches inner-city kids violin, volunteers with a variety of organizations, tutors children needing help, and serves as secretary of the Teen Advisory Board at her library branch. Passionate about international studies and government affairs, Catherine is absolutely thrilled to be chairing this committee and looks forward to some enthralling debate.
International Relations - Donovan Reynolds
Donovan Reynolds, a sophmore at MLWGS, is happy to be co-chairing Foreign Affairs for this year's Walker Model Congress. Donovan attended WMC when he was in 8th grade and volunteered last year as mock delegate. He enjoys lacrosse, volleyball and learning American Sign Language.
International Relations - Priya Singh
Priya Singh, a sophomore at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, looks forward to chairing the International Relations Committee. Since the eighth grade, Priya has been deeply involved in Model Congress and Model United Nations. In fact, her first Model Congress experience included serving as a delegate to the International Relations Committee at WMC 2014! Additionally, Priya loves playing piano, studying social studies and science, spending time with family and friends, and volunteering at a local hospital.
Homeland Security - Clare Perry
Clare Perry, a junior at Maggie Walker, is extremely excited to be co-chairing the House Homeland Security Committee with Abby Bender. Clare has been the vice chair of this committee before, and is hopeful what the new delegates can bring this year. Besides being a member of Model Congress, Clare is a member of Model UN Club, Latin Club, and EduPac. Additionally, she runs track and cross country for Maggie Walker, and plays varsity basketball. She can’t wait to meet all of the new delegates and is looking forward to this years conference!
Homeland Security - Idoia Dizon
Idoia Dizon is a sophomore at Maggie Walker Governor’s School. Along with Model Congress, she is involved in Club Asia, Model UN, Bhangra Club, and the Future Medical Professionals Club. Outside of school, she enjoys taking photos and making art, reading, and playing guitar.