This year’s Semi-Finalists, pictured here with their high school guidance counselors (standing, left to right) James Murphy, Patrick Doyle, and Tim Casale, are (left to right): Allison Shen, Victoria Seskin, Emily Tudisco, Brendan Catalano, Thomas F. Elustondo, and Michael J. Abatemarco. Congratulations to six Garden City High School students for being selected as 2010 National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists. Chosen from more than 1.5 million entrants from over 21,000 high schools, these six students will now have the opportunity to continue in the competition to compete for some 8,200 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $35 million, that will be offered next spring. Approximately 16,000 of the Semi-Finalists are expected to advance to the Finalist standing from which the 2010 National Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

2010 Commended Students are (standing, left to right): Halvor Adams, Thomas Spain, Ryan Gallant, and Donald Casler; (middle, left to right): Jane Furey, Katherine Harrington, Elizabeth Glover, Mary Odell, Caitlin Carpenter, and Gabrielle Garcia; (front, left to right): Zachary Zeno, Thomas Scouras, Christopher Burchieri, Peter Cohn, Mariah Pewarski. Absent from photo: Michelle Velez. Garden City High School is also pleased to announce that 16 students have been selected as 2010 National Merit Scholarship Commended Students. These students placed in the top five percent of the 1.5 million students who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.