Pendleton Heights senior is Madison County's lone National Merit Scholarship semifinalist

Oct. 6—PENDLETON — The truism that confidence breeds success has been watermarked on Maddie Roots' journey from quiet, uncertain freshman to award-winning senior at Pendleton Heights High School.

Roots recently became the only high school student in Madison County this year to be named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, an honor that her teachers and advisors agree is both well-earned and potentially life-changing.

"It shows the endless possibilities that may be out there for her," said Mike Taylor, a guidance counselor at Pendleton Heights. "To get this award, it's a reminder for her (that) 'I can compete with the best of the best. I'm right up there with them.'"

Taylor said Roots, who currently ranks 10th in her class with a 4.5967 grade-point average, has blossomed from a shy, reserved student into a well-liked leader among her peers.

"It's been neat to see the transition...as she progressed through high school into the senior that she is now, where she is self-advocating, she is out there doing things for herself," Taylor said. "She is obviously intelligent, smart, personable, and you would never have known that had you seen her as a freshman."

Roots has been involved with the school's theater program since her freshman year, when she became a stage manager and immediately impressed her advisors with her dependability and organizational skills.

"If she says she'll be there, she will be there. She'll be prepared," said Jacque Brown, the school's theater program director. "During the rehearsal process, the stage managers come to all the practices, and even before we start, she'll already have a list started of the props we need. She takes that initiative, and not all students do that."

Additionally, Roots has excelled in math and Spanish throughout her high school years. Coupled with her enjoyment of the theater program, she said her interests may steer her toward a leadership role regardless of which vocational path she takes.

"I just like learning in general, and then with the stage management on the theater side of things, I like the leading aspect," Roots said. "I spend half my day working at a preschool, so I'm considering going into teaching, maybe."

Roots was informed in September that she had been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholar program. The nationwide group of semifinalists represents less than 1% of all high school seniors in the country, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Roots will have an opportunity to apply for one of more than 7,000 National Merit Scholarships — collectively worth nearly $28 million — that will be offered next spring.

More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking a preliminary qualifying test. More than 16,000 students have qualified as semifinalists across the country. Roots is among 396 semifinalists from Indiana.

"She's just really grown in her confidence and her abilities," said Rachel Lauermann, a Spanish teacher who has had Roots in her classes for two years. "She comes in and she knows what she's doing. She applies herself. I really am impressed by her and the effort she puts into everything. She cares a lot."

Roots said she's taken several advanced placement and dual credit courses that she believes will prepare her well for the next chapter in her educational journey. Roots is currently considering several colleges, both in-state and out-of-state.

"It's amazing to be getting that college credit and also experiencing some of that difficult academic rigor that I'll see in the next four years after," she said.

Brown said that in some ways, academic success has brought Roots along in other areas. That continued growth, she said, will pay dividends long after Roots graduates.

"Sometimes kids that do very well on the tests are not very approachable or not very sociable, and she really is both of those things," Brown said. "I think with that combination, she will just blossom with her future. I just know that."

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