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Schools

District 225 National Merit Semifinalists Announced

Fifteen students from the Glenbrook District 225 are named National Merit Semifinalists.

This week, fifteen Glenbrook High School students were named National Merit Semifinalists in the 56th annual Merit Scholarship Competition. These students scored in the top one percent on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT), and are among approximately 16,000 students chosen nationwide.

Glenbrook students, along with about 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,00 high schools around the country, took the PSAT last fall. These students will have the opportunity to become National Merit Finalists this spring, qualifying them for one of 8,400 National Merit scholarships totaling more than $36 million.

In order to attain Finalist standing and be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, "semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test," according to a National Merit Scholarship Corporation press release Sept. 15.  

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Students must also submit a scholarship application that includes an essay and explanation of the student's leadership involvement in their school and community. Approximately 90 percent of all Semifinalists are expected to earn a Finalist title and of these, about 50 percent will win a National Merit Scholarship.

"To have a number of our students performing well enough to place them in the top one percent of the nation is a great recognition for our district," said Karen Geddeis, head of communications for District 225. "It indicates that our district is doing well to prepare our students for academic success."

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The PSAT is not only a chance to qualify for National Merit scholarships but is also an opportunity to practice taking standardized tests before moving on to others like the SAT and ACT, Geddeis added.

"They can see the format of questions, practice performing under time restraints, and see what it takes to adequately prepare for the test," she said.

Finalists

Five Glenbrook South High School were named National Merit Semifinalists. These students include: Daniel Backman, Mitchell Y. Bigelow, Nicholas L. Brenner, Jack Ryan and Albert Xiao.

Glenbrook North students include: Kyle Albert, David R. Baker, Julia M. Irons, Brandon M. Isaac, Kathryn J. Kadleck, Eli F. Klein, Chris W. Lee, Margot K. Tuchler, Matthew F. Tulig and Abigail L. Turner.

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