Lakewood City School District Students Honored In National Merit Competition

Press release from Lakewood City School District:

September 16, 2021

From left: Commended Student Joseph Daso, Semifinalists Abigail Hirsch and Caleigh Naylon, Commended Student Andre Hallenburg.

Lakewood High School seniors Abigail Hirsch and Caleigh Naylon have been named National Merit Semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Corp. competition. This designation recognizes Abby and Caleigh as among the top students in the nation. LHS also can boast two Commended Students, seniors Andre Hallenburg and Joseph Daso.

National Merit Scholarship Corp. also recognizes Commended Students, who are among the top 5% of PSAT scorers. Seniors Andre Hallenburg and Joseph Daso were named Commended Students. Although these students do not move on in the scholarship competition, we recognize them as among the best students in the state.

Based on their PSAT score from the 2020-2021 school year, Abby and Caleigh join the group of 16,000 Semifinalists across the country. These academic standouts rose to the top of more than 1.6 million students who took the PSAT. Semifinalists represent less than 1% of U. S. high school seniors and are the highest scoring entrants in their state. Semifinalists are designated on a state-representational basis. The number of Semifinalists named in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors.

Abby and Caleigh are now eligible to continue on in the competition in hopes of being named a Finalist and receiving one of more than 7,500 scholarships worth nearly $30 million to be awarded in the spring.

Congratulations to these four academic superstars!

This press release was produced by Lakewood City School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.