3 Students From Skokie Schools Named National Merit Semifinalists

SKOKIE, IL — Three students at Skokie high schools were named semifinalists for 2023 National Merit Scholarships. They include nine students from Evanston Township High School and one from Beacon Academy, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The trio of 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:

• Michelle Bechhofer, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
• Benjamin Boyarskiy, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
• Henry N. Fleck, Niles West High School

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, just one student from a Skokie school — a Niles North senior — was named a semifinalist, compared to 18 semifinalists from the class of 2021.

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