National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Scholars Named

Thirty-three members of the Shaker Heights High School Class of 2017 have been named Semifinalists and Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

This year's National Merit Semifinalists from Shaker are Zachary Brown, Rachel Brunot, Edith Duncan, Karissa Huang, Samuel Katz, Nicholas Masso, Andrew Maytin, Rose McCandless, Declan O'Connor, Nora Spadoni, Harry Steinberg, Aishwarya Suresh and Isabel Wang. They will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarship awards that will be offered next spring, and will be candidates for other scholarships as well.

The National Merit Commended Students are Joseph Berusch, Nathaniel Crowley, Amelia Gingras, Harrison Glasser, Benjamin Harper, Blake Himes, Austin Hise, Trevor Hunter, Brian Johnson, Srivishnu Kasturi, Edward Love, Sarah Manuszak, Hadas Marcus, Jordan Pazol, Nicole Pollack, William Raddock, Sheila Scanlon, John Sullivan, Benjamin Wasman and Kathleen White.

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 each state's high school seniors, Semifinalists are in the state's highest-scoring students on the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

These scholastically talented seniors are considered top candidates for admission to the most selective colleges.