Lakewood Names National Merit, AP Scholars

Lakewood High School’s honorees for the National Merit Scholarship program have been announced.

And, no surprise here, the district has dozens of top academic performers.

There were two National Merit Semifinalists, one National Merit Commended Scholar and — count ‘em — 65 AP Scholars, including one National AP Scholar.

Leading the way are seniors Ellen Latsko and Sheila McMahon, both named National Merit Semifinalists. 

More than 1.5 million students in over 22,000 high schools entered the National Merit Scholarship Competition, with 16,000 top scorers named Semifinalists, according to a news release.

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

Latsko and McMahon will now move 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 high school’s two Semifinalists, senior Morgenna Zuby was named a National Merit Commended Scholar for placing among the top 5 percent of PSAT participants.

“(Ellen), Sheila and Morgenna are the type of students every principal is proud to have in their school,” said Bill Wagner, the principal at Lakewood High School. 

“They are not only outstanding academically, but they are positive, friendly, active members of their class and exhibit a high level of integrity and a strong work ethic.”

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

In addition to LHS’ National Merit honorees, a number of members from the Classes of 2012 and 2013 earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the Advanced Placement Exams.

National AP Scholar, an award earned by averaging at least a 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams:

Class of 2012: Katherine Reading.

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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 2012: Jay Andreani, Ryan Cleary, Derek Dashiell, Zachary Dick, Hannah Gallovic, Michael Huffman, Nicholaus Jackosky, Eric Kunze, James Matthiesen, Kelly McKee, Adam Morris, Annalisa Perez, Nina Pizzo, Zach Prebel, Katherine Reading, Matt Sims, Lauren Szabo, Ingrid Vatamanu. 

Class of 2013: Ellen Latsko.

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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 2012: Claire Beargie, Veronica Cole, Grace Corridoni, Hannah Frimel, Anthony Gilbert, Celia Lamb, Nicole Parke, Timothy Watkins, Morgenna Zuby. 

Class of 2013: Robert Dunay, Thomas Ebner, Lindsay Furtado, Moira Horn, Grace Lazos, Sheila McMahon, Peter Quigley, Steve Saed, Peter Schleckman.

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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 2012: Emily Brown, Athena Ermidis, Mollie Evans, Sarah Ghose, Nathan Golbe, McCall Gorbach Foster, Diana Hanson, Joshua Jenkins, Mick Jones, Clarissa Kos, Conner McCready, Robert Meyer, McKenzie Paul, Stacey Sponsler. 

Class of 2013: Bea Aldrich, Sam Aprile, Caroline Canale, Wesley Carney, Julie Herman, Alexander Northrop, Lilly Pollack, Rachel Ritter, Bilal Shah, Elliott Smith, Alexander Stewart, Grace Yousefi.