Anthony Farrell	Melissa Vozzo

January 7, 2009 - Two Shaker High School students were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, while another 14 students were commended for their high scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test.

Anthony Farrell and Melissa Vozzo are among 16,000 students nationwide who were named National Merit semifinalists, which means their scores were near the top of the list of New York State students who took the PSAT/NMSQT.

Farrell and Vozzo will continue in the competition and could be named finalists, which would then allow them to compete for a National Merit Scholarship. Winners are eligible for scholarships through colleges, businesses and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Each year, about 1.5 million students participate in this national academic competition. Students are evaluated

based upon abilities, skills, and accomplishments in a variety of categories, such as test scores, academic record, leadership qualities, written recommendation from school officials and their own essay.

Shaker High's 19 commended students were among 34,000 students nationwide to receive this honor, which is given to students who score in the top 5 percent of entrants in their home state. Commended Students do not continue in the competition, but some become eligible for scholarships through corporations and businesses.

The following Shaker High students were named National Merit semifinalists or commended students:

SEMIFINALISTS

Anthony Farrell

Melissa Vozzo

COMMENDED

Erin Burke

Andrew Choi

Arthur DeFruscio

Jonah Dworkin

Brian Haller

Adah Hetko

Hailey Kopp

Joshua Malkin

Earl Matthew

Anjali Puttachi

Arielle Ray

Rotem Rusak

Mashal Shaikh

Richa Taneja