11 ETHS Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

EVANSTON, IL — Eleven Evanston Township High School students were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists Wednesday. The students qualified based on their scores on preliminary SAT tests they took last year as juniors. The results put them in the top 1 percent of all test takers nationwide, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Over the course of the 2019 competition, the corporation will award 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.

The next step is narrowing down the pool of semifinalists to finalists, with about 15,000 semifinalists expected to advance to the next level after submitting an application with information about academic and community activities, employment, awards and "demonstrated leadership abilities," according to National Merit.

Scholarships winners will be selected from the group of finalists based on their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college, according to National Merit, which plans to announce this year's winning Merit Scholars between April and July 2019.

Here are the National Merit Scholarship semifinalists among the class of 2019 at Evanston Township High School:

• Zachary L. Andalman
• Calista G. Benson-Williams
• Sarah N. Bloom
• Abraham D. Frolichstein-Appel
• Christopher I. Gottardi-Littell
• Julian Gottardi-Littell
• Jonathan I. Hauser
• Benjamin I. Keown
• Nicholas S. Marcotte
• Sophia L. Noyes
• Grace M. Parmer

In addition to the Evanston Township High School students, Beacon Academy student Michaelan R. Hatcher was also named a semifinalist.

Last year, 11 ETHS students, two Beacon Academy Students and one student at Roycemore School made the cut. Of those, five ETHS students were awarded college-sponsored scholarships, and four students at Evanston schools won $2,500 scholarships to the institution of their choice.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955. A majority of the $31 million in scholarships it distributed last year was underwritten by sponsors, including about 178 colleges and 232 corporations.

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