Four Lemont High School Seniors Named National Merit Commended Students

Five Lemont High School seniors have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program, thanks to their performance on either the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

Alexandra Albrecht has been cited as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, while Jarrod Hanson, Lucas Heatherington, Zachary Krepps and Anna Zechel all were cited as National Merit Commended Students.

The scores compiled by Lemont High School’s five honorees ranked them among the top five percent of all U.S. students from the Class of 2014 who took the PSAT/NMSQT or the SAT last year.

Given to high school juniors, more than 1.5 million students took the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2012. Approximately 16,000 students are named as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists, and roughly 34,000 students are designated as Commended Students. 

Semifinalists now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million. More than 90 percent of semifinalists move on to become National Merit finalists; more than half receive a National Merit scholarship, earning a Merit Scholar title.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high school must submit a detailed application with information on the student's academic record, involvement in extracurricular activities, leadership abilities and awards received. Students must also be recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm the earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The awards will be distributed in the spring.

Lemont High School has had six National Merit semifinalists in the past six years. Each of the previous five students—Jessica DeArcangelis and Michael Fischer in 2008, Therese Castrogiovanni and Rita Kuseliauskas in 2010, and Kim Gannon in 2012—went on to be named finalists.

For more on Albrect, read "Lemont High School Student Named National Merit Semifinalist."