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WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | WINTER 2019 17
23 Seniors Named National Merit
Semifinalists and Commended Students
Twenty-three members of the Shaker Heights High School Class of 2019
have been named Semifinalists and Commended Students in the National Merit
Scholarship Program.
This year's National Merit Semifinalists from Shaker are Justin Bai, Elizabeth
Brown, Emet Celeste-Cohen, Henry Crampton-Hays, Fenner Dreyfuss-Wells, Lia
Gomez-Perez, Erenalp Kahriman, Isabel Levin, Kaitlin Nordstrom, Leo Schirokauer,
Joshua Silver, and Eli Soto-Schwartz.
These students have the opportunity to continue in the competition for National
Merit Scholarship awards that will be offered this spring, and will be candidates for
other scholarships as well. Last year, nine Shaker Heights High School students were
named Semifinalists.
Eleven members of the Class of 2019 were named Commended Students. They
are: Nikhila Balasubramaniam, Melis Baltan-Brunet, Hannah Braun, Connor Covert,
Audrey Himes, Olivia La Rue, Jacob Lehner, Charlotte Lo, Daniel Szoke, Rachel
Weisman, and Lyle Yost.
Among Ohio’s more than 900 public high schools, only eight had more National
Merit Semifinalists than Shaker Heights High School. Our student group represented
the second-highest number of National Merit Semifinalists from any public high school
in Northeast Ohio, earning more semifinalist recognitions than Bay Village, Beachwood,
Chagrin Falls, Lakewood, Mentor, Orange, Rocky River, and Westlake high schools.
Nationwide, 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists have been designated from
approximately 1.6 million program entrants in more than 22,000 high schools.
Representing less than 1 percent of the country’s high school seniors, Semifinalists are
among the state's highest-scoring students on the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit
Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
These scholastically talented seniors are considered top candidates for admission
to the most selective colleges. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2019 will be
announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
Stay Up-to-Date
on Fernway Rebuilding
Visit shaker.org/FernwayUpdate.aspx to
learn more about plans to rebuild Fernway
School. The special section includes all
communications to the community,
information on the temporary school and
building repair, a listing of meetings and
events, and links to how you can help.
Save the Date
• The annual Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day of Service, presented by the Shaker
Heights Schools PTO Council CommUnity
Builders, will take place from 10 am-noon
on Monday, January 21 at Shaker Heights
High School. Learn more about the event
online at shaker.org.
• The spring Tour Your Schools event will
be on Monday, March 18. Learn more about
Tour Your Schools at shaker.org/tour.
• Conferences for families with students
in Grades 7-12 are on Friday, January 18.
Conference day for families with students
in Grades PreK-6 is Friday, February 15.
There are no classes for students on either
of these days. SL
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