LHS student lands near top of PSAT takers

Maria Flora, The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
·2 min read

Mar. 27—Thousands of high school students take the Preliminary Scholarship Aptitude Test (PSAT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) each year in hopes of qualifying for college scholarships.

Lebanon High School senior Ella Johnson rose to the top.

Johnson recently learned that she is a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program, which is based largely on SAT scores.

Last fall, Johnson was named a semi-finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Semi-finalists represent the top 1% of PSAT test takers, said Lebanon High School Principal Kevin O'Rourke.

Earlier this month, he said, "We learned that Ella has been named a finalist. She will now be in the running for one of 7,250 scholarships that will be awarded to the finalists, and she will be able to announce to the colleges of her choice that she is a National Merit Scholar Finalist, which often results in additional scholarship funds from the individual universities. Finalists are typically notified in late March and April if they are chosen for one of the National Merit scholarships.

"Ella has proven to be an exceptional student at LHS," O'Rourke said. "She is highly ranked in her class, she was the drum major for the marching band, she scored a 1590 on the SAT (1600 is perfect) on only one attempt, she has scored the highest score of 5s on all AP exams she has taken, and most importantly, she is a young lady of impeccable character."

While Ella hasn't committed to any college, she said, "I will probably go to Purdue. They have a great program for physics and mathematics. I want to be a researcher or forensic person. It's very neat to be able to do subjects that are very theoretical."

She was hopeful of being chosen as a National Merit Scholarship finalist, adding, "I knew I had a good shot at it."

Besides Purdue, she said she has visited the campuses of Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Johnson is the daughter of Luke and Amy Johnson. Her father is a mechanic working for a racing team and her mother works from home screening obituaries for Legacy.com. Her brother, Adam, plays trumpet in the high school band.

Her classmate, Gabe Shores, was also named a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist last fall. Shores could not be reached for comment.