32 students from nine Catholic schools earn National Merit honors

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Catholic Education has announced that 32 seniors from nine of its high schools in the five-county region have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., including 10 from Bishop Shanahan in Downingtown.

These individuals have been named as Commended Students or Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The 25 Commended Students will receive a Letter of Commendation from their individual high school and the NMSC, which conducts the program. The letter will be presented by the local high school principal to each of the seniors being recognized in this category.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2018 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2018 competition by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Seven students are among the approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. These exceptional students have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered in spring 2018.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalists along with their high school must submit a scholarship application detailing the individual students’ academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. Semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s previous performance on their qualifying test.

The individual students recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation are:

Archbishop John Carroll High School, Radnor (Delco)

Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Jonathan Gould, Jacob George, and Julianna Wallgren.

Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Julia Lundeen, Suzanne Carpenter and Christopher Anderson.

Bishop Shanahan High School, Downingtown

Semifinalist in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Shannon Cody

Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Simon Blanchard, Katelyn Bradley, Brian Gallagher, John Glasser, Daniel Gorman, John Kennedy, Wyatt Muller, Dominique Ocampo, and Vishal Ramola.

Archbishop Wood High School, Warminster (Bucks)

Commended Student in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Shannon Dyke.

Cardinal O’Hara High School, Springfield (Delco)

Commended Student in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Travis Gaskill.

Father Judge High School for Boys, Northeast Philadelphia

Semifinalist in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Christopher Blank.

Commended Student in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Thomas Quarry.

Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, Northeast Philadelphia

Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Ryan Doherty and Briana McClain.

Lansdale Catholic High School, Lansdale (Montco)

Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Mark Heggan and Edward McQuillen.

Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, Philadelphia

Semifinalist in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Caroline Curtiss.

Pope John Paul II High School, Royersford (Montco)

Semifinalist in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program is Andrew Tufillaro.

Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program are Sydney Bucher, Kerrin Dunlap, Michael Granito, Susannah McHugh, Michael Pirrall and Monica Rapchinski.