Wanda Shirk

Wanda Gehret Shirk is a contestant from .
Wanda is remembered for singing Survivor-themed tunes numerous times at the beginning of the game, much to the chagrin of her fellow castaways. She was one of the first people (along with Jonathan Libby) to be eliminated from the game via Schoolyard Pick, singing her own song "Survivor" as she left the island with Jonathan.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
Born in Belleville, Pennsylvania, Wanda Shirk grew up in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Ephrata High School in 1967. In 1971, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and speech communication from Wheaton College in Illinois. She then went on to receive her master's degree in education from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
Shirk has been teaching junior and senior high school English for 28 years. From 1971 to 1977, she taught at Warwick High School in Lititz, Pennsylvania. From 1983 until the present, she has taught at Northern Potter High School in Ulysses, Pennsylvania. In addition to classroom teaching, she has supervised the school's yearbook and newspaper staffs, directed school plays, acted as an advisor to the National Honor Society and sophomore, junior and senior classes and served as timer and scorekeeper for the school's volleyball and basketball games.
Parenting has been a large part of Shirk's life over the last 25 years. In addition to her own children, Dawn and Shawn, she and her husband of 26 years (they divorced in 2000) became foster parents to 25 children and to exchange students from Norway, Germany and the Ukraine.
These days, Shirk devotes much of her time to community service. She is a trustee of the Ulysses Library, President of the Potter County Foster Parents Association, Chairman of the Potter County Planning Commission and secretary/fund-raising Chairman for the Tri-Town Fire Company Auxiliary. She is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team member and is certified in some Red Cross courses (and a regular Red Cross blood donor as well).
Shirk enjoys backpacking and hiking. In 2000, she solo backpacked the 85 mile Susquehannock Trail in Potter County, Pennsylvania. She is an active member of the Keystone Trails Association and two local hiking clubs.
A recent newlywed, Shirk resides in Ulysses, Pennsylvania, with her husband, George. Her birth date is August 24, 1949.http://web.archive.org/web/20210928132418/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/20673/
==Survivor==
The contestants of Palau started the game by rowing to the island. The first person of each gender to grab one of two Immunity Necklaces on the beach would receive immunity (which Jolanda Jones ended up getting for the women). There was no one on the beach when the castaways arrived, so they went ahead and built a shelter. The next day, Jeff Probst announced that the tribes would be chosen in a Schoolyard Pick, with the last two castaways (one of each gender) being eliminated immediately. Ibrehem Rahman chose Angie Jakusz to join Ulong over Wanda, meaning she, along with Jonathan Libby, was left unpicked and therefore eliminated. Since the last man, Willard Smith, was picked before Angie, Wanda became the second person eliminated from Survivor: Palau. As the boat carrying her and Jonathan was leaving, she sang her last song to her fellow players.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode	TribeAffiliation	Challenge 	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1 	None 	Race to Shore	Immunity 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
|-|Voting History=
Because she was eliminated before the first Tribal Council, Wanda did not have a voting history.
Episode	Wanda'sVotes	Voted AgainstWanda
1 	colspan=2 	
 	 	
</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* On January 9, 2010, Wanda attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
==Trivia==
* Wanda is the oldest woman to compete on .
* Wanda and Jonathan Libby are the only contestants to never be assigned to a tribe.
* As Jonathan was left unpicked before her, Wanda is the first person to finish in 19th place. The first player to be voted out and come in 19th place was Billy Garcia.
* Wanda and Jonathan became the first two castaways to never visit Tribal Council. They were followed by Gary Stritesky, Kourtney Moon, Dana Lambert, Pat Cusack, Jackson Fox, and Randen Montalvo.
* Wanda is the first woman to not have her name written down on parchment without getting evacuated or quit the competition.
* Wanda is included as a member of Koror in the opening credits, since she would have been the tribe's last choice.
* At the Palau Live Reunion Show, Wanda sang her own original Survivor song, to the tune of "".
* In homage to Wanda, a segment in "The Wiggle Room" of Rob Has a Podcast was named after her, "The Wand-off", where listeners make and submit parody songs about the recently concluded Survivor episode.
* Wanda is tied with Jonathan Libby for the fewest career days played of any Survivor contestant, lasting only 2 days.
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Female Contestants
Category:Palau Contestants
Category:19th Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Palau
Category:1949 births
Category:Living people