16 Evanston Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

EVANSTON, IL — Sixteen seniors at Evanston high schools have been named semifinalists for 2022 National Merit scholarships.

They include 13 students from Evanston Township High School, two from Beacon Academy and one from Roycemore School, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The local students are among 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who qualified by achieving one of the state's highest scores on the 2020 Preliminary SAT.

To make it to the finalist round in February, the students must submit an application with a recommendation from an official at their high school.

About 7,500 scholarships worth nearly $30 million will be awarded to finalists before the end of July 2022, according to the scholarship corporation, an Evanston-based nonprofit founded in 1955 to run the program.

Those merit scholarships include about 4,000 sponsored by colleges and universities, 2,500 sponsored by the nonprofits own funds and about 1,000 provided by corporations and business organizations.

Semifinalists for 2022 National Merit Scholarships from Evanston schools:

• Jacob J. Chiss, Evanston Township High School
• Cornelia A. Di Gioia, Evanston Township High School
• Sophie K. Lammers, Evanston Township High School
• Kai K. Li-Caldwell, Evanston Township High School
• Annika L. Macy, Evanston Township High School
• Aaron C. Martin, Evanston Township High School
• Nikola V. Maruszewski, Roycemore School
• George N. O'Carroll, Evanston Township High School
• Noa R. Polish, Evanston Township High School
• Jack R. Sokol, Evanston Township High School
• Anneka R. Stracks, Beacon Academy
• Sydney E. TerMolen, Evanston Township High School
• Carmen L. Tracy-Amoroso, Evanston Township High School
• George H. Weiler, Evanston Township High School
• Brandon Wui, Evanston Township High School
• Jonathan D. Xakellis, Beacon Academy

Students will find out in February whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April.

This year's crop of semifinalists from Evanston represents an increase compared to the class of 2021, when just eight ETHS students and one from Beacon Academy made the cut. One ETHS student was awarded a college-sponsored scholarship to the University of Chicago.

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