Thirty-one Members of the Class of 2010 Named National Merit Semifinalists
9/18/2009
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this week that 31 members of the Albuquerque Academy Class of 2010 have been named Semifinalists in the 2010 Merit Scholarship program, qualifying them to compete for $36 million of awards this coming spring.
In sharing the announcement, Academy Head of School Andrew Watson said, "For the third year in a row, the Academy is among the top independent schools in the country in the number of seniors earning National Merit Semifinalist status."
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this week that 31 members of the Albuquerque Academy Class of 2010 have been named Semifinalists in the 2010 Merit Scholarship program, qualifying them to compete for $36 million of awards this coming spring.
In sharing the announcement, Academy Head of School Andrew Watson said, "For the third year in a row, the Academy is among the top independent schools in the country in the number of seniors earning National Merit Semifinalist status."
In fact, there are only three independent schools in the nation with more Semifinalists than the Academy.
More than 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 Scholarship Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, the initial screen of program participants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.
The Academy’s 2010 Semifinalists are: Jeffrey Adolf, Erika DeBenedictis, Ian Erickson-Kery, Joshua Espinoza, Norman Farquhar, Brennan Farrell, Mindy Guo, Elizabeth Hale, James Howe, Austin Hudson-LaPore, Martin Hussey, Ryan Johnson, Tessa Kelly, Sophia Lauriello, Shea Loges, Thomas Mariani, Benjamin Masserano, Carolina Mattsson, Kai Mayer, Alexander Meeks, Clara Milne, Casey Purcella, Alexandra Schluntz, Jeremy Schofield, Benjamin Scuderi, Hart Shaw-Faber, Natalie Weiss, Nina Wexelblatt, Brian Williams, Carson Wills, and Emma Ye.
"The beauty of this, of course, is that these academic accomplishments are matched by similar accomplishments from our seniors in every aspect of the school, as well as the spirit these seniors, and all of our students, bring to class every day," said Mr. Watson. "We congratulate our Semifinalists (along with their teachers), wish them well as they compete for the prestigious National Merit Scholarships, and look forward to their continuing student body leadership. What a joy to work with these wonderful young men and women."