North High students named National Merit semi-finalists
Officials with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship program.
And of the eight students from Lee County schools, two attend North Fort Myers High School.
Anastasia Petrik and Keaton Ufhiel were the two North High students who made the cut, along with six other Lee County students – five from Fort Myers High School and the other from Lehigh.
“They’re very committed to their studies and that’s reflected in their scores,” said Matt Mederios, North Fort Myers High School principal. “It’s exciting for us. That’s a reflection of our students and teachers commitment to the students.”
Mederios said he had to hold onto the results for more than a week before announcing them.
Petrik, who had asked Mederios if she made the cut before the names were released, was overwhelmed when she learned the news.
“It’s surreal. It’s one of those things you hear about and when it happens to you, it’s crazy,” Petrik said. “When I found out, I called my mom, then cried.”
Ufheil, who had to wait five months from the time he began the process until now, said he assumed nothing came of it.
“I knew I made the cutoff, but I didn’t know if it would materialize. I was surprised because after waiting that long I didn’t think I’d made it,” Ufheil said. “I was very happy and satisfied when I made it.”
Approximately 1.4 million juniors from more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test last year.
The semifinalists represent fewer than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide, and include the highest- scoring entrants in each state.
Mederios said from here, the candidates will fill out some information online, write an essay and then wait until February when the determination of the finalists will be made.
Approximately 15,000 students are expected to advance to the finalist level, allowing them to compete for one of 2,500 scholarships worth $2,500.
Winning students will also be named National Merit Scholars and be eligible for additional financial aid from many of the top colleges and universities throughout the country, Mederios said.
“If you’re named a finalist, that’s a big deal, and I believe they both have a great chance of being named finalists,” Mederios said. “Once you’re a finalist, you’re on the radar of a lot of universities. You’ll get a lot of scholarships offers.”
Petrik wants to attend the University of Chicago to major in theater, while Ufheil wants to go into the natural sciences, though he hasn’t decided on a school yet.
The other semifinalists were Christian Dimaculangan of Lehigh Senior High School, and Megan Hilsmann, Kamryn Lewis, Isaac Michael, Renee Miville and Michael Santucci, all from Fort Myers High School.