Westfield Students Honored On National Stage With Merit Honors

WESTFIELD, NJ — A group of 30 students at Westfield High School were honored in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program as Commended Students.

The annual awards are earned through outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The scores are calculated by doubling the reading and writing section scores, adding the math results, and then dividing the total by ten.

The honor places the group among the top 50,000 students nationwide who entered the program.

The following students have been recognized:

Anya R. Ausiello
Emma Blaustein
Christian Buonopane
Owen Callahan
Ethan Cha
Ava Contract
William Crozier
Deven Davies
Jacob W. Dickey
Seven C. Drake
Luke Fitzgerald
Leo J. Goldman
Kyle Goldstein
Ana Belle Lomaka
Benjamin L. Vons
Flynn A. Martin
Mia C. Nuzzo
Kai Patel
Neeva Patel
Kevin Reynders
Sophia Rodkin
Connor Smith
William Song
Chloe Spatz
Matthew W. Swaminathan
Kingston B. Warr
Logan Welsh
Cecilia Wiggins
Anna G. Zadrozny
Elliott Zhu

Earlier this month, Senior Grace Matus was named a semifinalist out of a group of more than 1.3 million students from 20,000 high schools nationwide after passing the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). After this initial round of screening, the pool is narrowed down to just 16,000, less than one percent of all high school seniors in the United States.

Finalists will be notified in February. Award winners will then be announced over different stages beginning in April 2026.

READ MORE: Westfield Student Named Semifinalist In National Awards Program

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a nonprofit organization that is independent from any government assistance. It was established in 1955 on the goal of carrying out a nationwide merit program. Scholarships are underwritten by the NMSC with its own funds, and with the help of 300 business organizations, higher education facilities, and individual donors.