Way To
Go Grace!
Newark High School senior Grace Blondell has been named a Commended Student in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program.
She was given Letter of Commendation by NHS Principal Tom Roote during morning announcements October 23. The show was also being featured in the live WHAM/Fox News “Friday Morning Lights” program that showcases area schools.
Roote congratulated Blondell for her academic achievement. Additionally he awarded her a gold letter R, E, D and S for her academic and athletic accomplishments as part of the school’s Uirst Script N Student and Staff Recognition ceremony this year.
The program recognizes students and staff for behavior in keeping with core values at NHS. “Grace does an outstanding job of managing her personal health, from the mind to the body to the spirit,” Roote said.
Under the National Merit Scholarship Program, commended students, like Blondell, are recognized for the exceptional academic promise demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the qualifying test used for program entry. They do not, however, continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships to be offered next spring.
Over 1.5 million students in the nation took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/
NMSQT) last October and entered the National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and awards conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). In April, NMSC identiUied the 50,000 highest scorers and notiUied their High Schools.
Some 16,000 of those high performers were recently designated semiUinalists on a state representational basis. Their schools were notiUied in August and only those students have the opportunity to continue in the Merit Scholarship Competition and advance to Finalist standing by meeting a number of additional requirements.
The other 34,000 high performers, including Blondell, were named Commended Students on the basis of a national Selection Index Score of 202, applicable to all program participants without regard to state-­‐by-­‐state distribution. Participants who scored at or above the Commended Student Selection Index score, but below their state or selection unit’s SemiUinalist Selection Index score, are Commended Students.