Schools

Lakewood High School Boasts Three National Merit Semifinalists

High school also features five Commended Scholars and 48 AP Scholars.

More than 1.5 million students in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Competition, with 16,000 top scorers named semifinalists.

Wouldn’t you just know it that Lakewood would have its share of top performers?

This just in from the Lakewood School District newsroom: Lakewood High School has three National Merit semifinalists, five National Merit Commended Scholars and 48 AP Scholars. 

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Leading the way is Lakewood High School’s trio of National Merit Semifinalists: seniors Ryan Cleary, Derek Dashiell and Katherine Reading, according to the news release.

Students enter the competition by taking the PSAT their junior year. Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of US high school seniors and are the highest scoring entrants in their state.

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cleary, Dashiell and Reading are now eligible to continue on in the competition in hopes of receiving one of more than 8,200 scholarships to be awarded in the spring.

In addition to the three Semifinalists from Lakewood High School, four other seniors were named National Merit Commended Scholars for placing among the top 5 percent of PSAT participants.

LHS’ four Commended Scholars are Mick Jones, James Matthiesen, Annalisa Perez, Nina Pizzo and Matthew Sims. 

Although they will not continue in the Scholarship competition, the students named Commended Scholars have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance in this highly competitive program, according to the news release. 

In addition to LHS’ National Merit honorees, a number of members from the Classes of 2011 and 2012 have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the Advanced Placement Exams taken each spring.

AP Scholars with Distinction, an award earned by averaging at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams:

  • Class of 2011: Colin Bauman, Brian Brink, Luke Fesko, Michael Koltiska, Anne Latsko, Stephanie Saed, Ellen Schleckman, Hannah Steele, Bethany Zettler
  • Class of 2012: Ryan Cleary 

AP Scholars with Honor earn their recognition by averaging at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams:

  • Class of 2011: Danielle Curran, Nicole Dashiell, Charles Kemp, Anna Marburger, Lindsey McEntee, Kevin Ritter, Paige Robar, Mary Shannon and Monika Virag
  • Class of 2012: Hannah Gallovic, James Matthiesen and Nina Pizzo

LHS had 26 AP Scholars, who earned the award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher.

The AP Scholars are:

  • Class of 2011: Samiha Abusharekh, Shane Carey, Melissa Gajewski, Erika Johnson, Maksym Kostryk, Lisa Kowalski, Kyle Kvasnicka, Margaret Latham, Maureen MacGregor, Melissa Richardson, Jasmine Sarkis and Abigail Wimbiscus
  • Class of 2012: Emily Brown, Veronica Cole, Derek Dashiell, McCall Gorbach Foster, Clarissa Kos, Eric Kunze, Michael March, Adam Morris, Annalisa Perez, William Prebel, Katherine Reading, Matt Sims, Lauren Szabo, Ingrid Vatamanu


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