Shaker Heights Leads Ohio in National Merit Competition
25 Seniors Named Semifinalists

September 17, 2003 – Shaker Heights High School is Ohio's top public school this year in the National Merit Scholarship Competition, with 25 Semifinalists.

Shaker's National Merit Semifinalists are Benjamin Abelson, Deborah Beim, Paul Bixenstine, Hallie Dietsch, Samuel Freilich, Michelle Grossman, Elizabeth Haas, Owen Hearey, Brett Heeger, Arlo Hill, Anna Hutt, Yutaro Komuro, Sara Langhinrichs, Hyun Young Lee, Zachary Lerner, Vince Pavlish, Shira Polster, David Pretzer, Cody Rose, Kyan Safavi, Kelly Schaefer, Harry Schnur, William Seitz, Ashali Singham, and Mark Vieyra.

In addition, Shaker has two Semifinalists in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, which recognizes the nation's top African-American students. They are Karelle Hall and December Kinney.

Each of the programs also names Commended Students, who are in the top 2 percent nationally and are considered exceptionally strong candidates for admission to selective colleges.

Shaker's National Merit Commended Students are Alex Campbell, Christopher Chin, Jonathan Distad, Laura Falender, Mitch Frank, Nicole Goddard, Ryan Hacala, Clifford Harding, Andrew Hopkins, Timothy Israel, December Kinney, Michael Koler, Andrea Kutik, David Morgenstern, Emily Ozan, Alix Schrager, Selena Simmons-Duffin, and Kevin Strang.

National Achievement Commended Students are Hayes Anderson, Betty Elee, Amber Lovejoy-Rezek, Denise Mack, and Brittany Watkins.

Nationwide, 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists have been designated from approximately 1.3 million program entrants in more than 21,000 high schools nationwide. Representing less than 1 percent of each state's high school seniors, Semifinalists are the state's highest-scoring students on the 2002 Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT).

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1955. The Semifinalists named in each year's Merit Scholarship competition show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Those who meet requirements to advance to the Finalist level, then compete for scholarships supported by independent sponsor organizations, by NMSC, or by their colleges.

Since the inception of the program, Shaker has consistently been among the top schools in Ohio in producing National Merit scholars. See historical chart.

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