Woodlands Academy senior named National Merit® semifinalist

Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart is proud to announce that one of its 36 senior class members has qualified to continue her pursuit of a highly prestigious scholarship award.

Gianna Keuer is among the less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors achieving semifinalist status in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This group of academically talented students will continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit scholarships worth nearly $28 million awarded next spring.

“Gianna is a leader in the classroom who motivates her peers to do their best,” said Woodlands Principal Rocco Gargiulo. “She is a remarkable student who works incredibly hard, and we are so proud of her for achieving this national recognition of her academic excellence.”

The 2024 National Merit Scholarship competition began during the last school year with more than 1.5 million juniors taking a preliminary exam. The resultant nationwide pool of approximately 16,000 semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Each semifinalist must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Advancing to the finalist level is based on the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

“The entire Woodlands community wishes Gianna continued success during the rest of her National Merit Scholarship quest,” said Gargiulo.

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Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic, independent day-and-boarding, college-preparatory school for young women of all faiths in grades nine through 12. Founded in Chicago in 1858 and located in Lake Forest since 1904, Woodlands is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries on six continents.