Eleven pupils in the Westerville City School District have been named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are: Matthew Boller, Elizabeth Graff, Olivia Horlocker and Remington Schultz, Westerville Central High School; Grace Blanchong, Owen Lewis, Mackenzie Madden, Noah Polak, Jonathan Pratt and Michael Pratt, Westerville North High School; and Ezekiel Bednarczuk, Westerville South High School. Letters of commendation from their schools and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by their principals to these scholastically talented seniors.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT-National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“Those being named commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”