National Merit Competition Honors 12 GCHS Seniors

Garden City High School Senior Julianne Unger (third from left), a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, with classmates who received National Merit Scholarship Commendations. The commended students are Justin Kirschner, Mary Kelly, Melanie Wegener, Deirdre Regan, Edward Keenan, and Mark Pando (front) and Richard Gustavson, Richard Tufano, and Andrew Butler (back). Daniel Ohngemach and Alexander Kong also received commendations.

The students qualified for the honor by placing among the top 5% of the more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Award competition by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. According to the National Merit Scholarship Award organizers, the commended students "have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance in this highly competitive program."

As a Semifinalist, Ms. Unger has the opportunity to advance to Finalist standing. An estimated 90% of Semifinalists are expected to progress to the Finalist level. Of these, about half (8,200 students) will be selected as National Merit Scholars. The winners will be announced in April.