Dr. Albert Penna, interim principal of Vestal High School, is pleased to announce that two Vestal High School seniors, Haashim Shah and Graham Wilcox, have qualified as Semifinalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship competition.
These two highly achieving high school seniors were among the approximately 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists announced nationwide. They will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,500 scholarship awards totaling about $33 million that will be offered next spring as part of the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
In addition, Dr. Penna is proud to announce that four Vestal High School students have been named Commended Students. Letters of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program, have been received by Daria Chaplin, Anika Dalvie, Eli Holmes and Sheng Slogar.
Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2017 competition when they took the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Approximately 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.
“We are very proud of our Semifinalists and Commended Students, and of all the students at Vestal who challenge themselves on a daily basis to reach their full potential,” said IB-Honors Facilitator Sally Lowenstein. “National Merit recognition for these students is an honor for us all.”
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share its goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.