National Merit semifinalists honored

October 2, 2009

By Hubert Adjei-Kontoh
Staff Writer

Twenty was the magic number this year at the city meeting to honor National Merit Scholars on September 28. This year, Coppell High School had a record number of 20 National Merit semifinalists, a prestigious honor not just for the school but also the whole district.

“We have more National Merit semifinalists in the history of Coppell High School,” said Principal Brad Hunt “this has been a goal through our strategic plan and we have met their goal and exceeded.”

National Merit is an academic scholarship program conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation. During junior year, students take the Preliminary SAT, and students in the 96th percentile (top 50,000 highest scorers) in their state are considered “Commended”.

Out of these commended students, the top third become semifinalists, and 94% of these become finalists, half of which are chosen for scholarships that are given by companies and organizations, and colleges and universities. Also, $2500 is given by the NMSC.

“The student has more options college wise and it is an impressive component for resume,” Hunt said.

To most, this recognition was a welcome reward to nights of hard work and prep classes, such as senior Paul Blazek, who started taking SAT classes after his freshman year. However to others, it was a release of a burden.

“I felt elated and relieved when I received my scores,” senior Peter Chang said.

The parents of these scholars were proud of the accomplishments of sons and daughters. Though some, because of older siblings and previous scores received by their son or daughter, predicted that they would be selected for this honor.

“Because her sister was already a scholar, it was kind of expected, but we are happy anyways,” Sam Amsavelu, father of senior Suwetha Amsavelu said.

The National Merit semifinalists will have their names and pictures in the main hallway to recognize their accomplishments.

The Final List of semifinalists:

Annie Abraham

Suwetha Amsavelu

Paul Blazek

Ashwin Chandra

Peter Chang

Daphne Chen

Elisa Farrell

Patrick Foss

Bryce Heatherly