14 Students At Lake Forest Schools Named National Merit Semifinalists

LAKE FOREST, IL — Fourteen students at high schools in Lake Forest were named semifinalists for 2023 National Merit Scholarships. They include six from Lake Forest High School and seven from Lake Forest Academy and one from the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The more than a dozen local students are among more than 16,000 who qualified nationwide based on the results of their scores on last year's Preliminary SAT test. The number of semifinalists in each state is proportional to its share of the nation's total number of graduating seniors.

Representatives of the National Merit Scholarship named the following local students as semifinalists:

• William G. Boyle, Lake Forest High School
• Laurel S. Curry, Lake Forest High School
• Montgomery J. Gold, Lake Forest Academy
• Juliette E. Hulsizer, Lake Forest Academy
• Anne M. Kelly, Woodlands Academy
• Jonas R. Kobza, Lake Forest High School
• Elizabeth J. Kuehnle, Lake Forest High School
• Zihan Li, Lake Forest Academy
• Saanvi Malkani, Lake Forest Academy
• Khue Nguyen, Lake Forest Academy
• Kevin A. Taylor, Lake Forest High School
• Anton E. Walvoord, Lake Forest Academy
• Gregor P. White, Lake Forest High School
• Michael Xing, Lake Forest Academy

The Evanston-based nonprofit that sponsors the program distributes three types of scholarships every spring:

• 2,500 cash scholarships from its own funds worth $2,500 each
• about 950 corporate-sponsored awards mostly reserved for the children of various businesses
• about 3,800 college-sponsored scholarships that cover between $500 and $2,000 a year for up to four years of undergraduate study for students set to attend those institution.

In order for semifinalists to qualify as a finalist and become eligible for scholarships, they must submit a detailed application, including an essay and recommendation from a high school official.

Last year, eleven students from local high schools — eight from LFHS and three from LFA, were named semifinalists.

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