42 BoCo Students Honored as National Merit Semifinalists

Patch

BOULDER, CO - Boulder County Schools are showing up big academically this year, as 42 local students were named National Merit Semifinalists this month. Students are selected to this initial stage of the National Merit Scholarship program based upon their scores on the 2017 Preliminary SAT test, generally taken during a student's junior year of high school. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, just 1 percent of students nationwide meet the criteria.

To become a finalist, the students must submit an application containing information about the student's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and other honors received. Students must also submit an essay and be endorsed by a school official. According to the NMSC, about 90 percent of semifinalists–roughly 15,000 students–will reach the finalist status, which qualifies them for one of 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth a combined $31 million that will be offered in the spring. Many colleges also separately offer Merit Scholarship awards for incoming students.

The 42 students honored from 10 Boulder County Schools are listed below.

Boulder

Boulder High School: Tor Holck, Louis Jaeckle, Kenneth Jew, Milo Lewon, Riley Oxnard, Hendrik Peters, Irby Wilcox-O'Hearn, Suhana Zeutzius.

Fairview High School: Jaron Berman, Seth Berman, Chloe Brasket, Annika Dombrowski, Elia Gorokhovsky, Ian Greene, Vanessa Haggans, Stanislav Irisov, Samuel Jarvis, Shreyas Kadekodi, Cynthia Lin, John Parker, Connor Parkes, Sophie Woods, Aaron Yang.

Watershed School: Teo Schollmaier.

Lafayette

Centaurus High School: Kira Beiner, Allison Macdonald, Aidan O'Connell, Jack Stade, Samantha Webb.

Peak to Peak Charter School: Naomi Burns, Capri Huffman, Isabella Sicker, William Stahoviak, Isaac Van Tol, Brian Wee.

Longmont

Longmont High School: Gregory Labbe.

Silver Creek High School: Paxton Lee, Max Ruiz.

Skyline High School: Rebecca Rauschmayer.

Louisville

Monarch High School: Jessica Hannebert, Grace Wade-Stein.

Niwot

Niwot High School: Andrew Wu.


Stay up to date on all local news. It's easier than winning a Merit Scholarship! Just sign up for a Patch newsletter here.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock