Twenty-Two Shaker Heights
High School Students Honored in
National Merit Scholarship Program
Thirteen members of the Shaker Heights High School Class of 2021
were named National Merit Semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit
Scholarship Program, and an additional nine students were named National
Merit Commended Students.
Shaker Heights High School had the second-highest number of National
Merit Semifinalists among Northeast Ohio public high schools and the seventhhighest
among all of Ohio’s public high schools. This Semifinalist group
represents the largest number of Semifinalists from Shaker since 2016.
Congratulations to National Merit Semifinalists Asya Akkus, Margaret
Bennett, Ian Bhatia, Mathew Boardman, Michael Bond, Maximilian Carroll,
Matthew Kirchner, Rylan Polster, Madeline Price, Zachary Segar, Sriram Srinivas,
David Szoke, and Isaac Van Orman.
Congratulations also to the National Merit Commended Students Caroline
Brancato, Lily Camp, Aidan Fahy, Grace Geier, Campbell Johnston, Peter Khayat,
Zoe Rosenfelt, Hilary Shakelton, and Clovis Westlund. SL
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WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SPRING 2021 15
What are some of the new ways the
IC has connected with students this year?
We created something called Team
Fortitude. It’s a space where we bring
together mentors with students to have
an intergenerational space where people
connect and bond and laugh, and also talk
about real issues. I reached out to MAC
Scholars Advisor Nate Reese and MAC
Sister Scholars Advisor Tracy Williams and
they pulled in a team of thoughtful mentors
who have a gift for helping our students feel
seen and valued.
It’s become like a Black student union
at the IC. As a listener and observer,
it’s been really powerful to hear and see
what this space means to our students.
It started with two students and then it
grew to three, then four, and then five. It
was a slow build, but it taught me that we
don’t have enough spaces where our Black
students feel a sense of place, and that we
can and should do more.
What are your goals for the IC?
We’re striving to make the District’s
strategic plan a reality at our school. We
want to do our part to make Shaker Heights
Schools the district of choice. For us that
means understanding that the traditional
high school environment doesn’t work for
every student.
And we want to make sure that the
IC is a space where we are meeting the
needs of students through interest-based
learning so that our students’ voices are on
their learning plans. This empowers them
to identify their interests and strengths
beyond school and it allows us to get to
know our students and to build a system
around them. This isn’t just going to be a
space where kids hop on a computer and get
their credits. We have to think about the
skills we want to build up in our students,
so that we have a better community, and
so that they are able to achieve the futures
they want for themselves and that we all
want for them.
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