National Merit Scholarships Awarded To 4 Niles Township Residents

SKOKIE, IL — Three recent high school graduates and Niles Township residents have this month been awarded National Merit $2,500 cash scholarships. They include three of the five students at Skokie schools named semifinalists last fall in the nationwide scholarship program and one of the 11 Loyola Academy students who reached the semifinal stage.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation, an Evanston-based nonprofit, picks 2,500 winners of the cash scholarships among those judged to have the "strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies." Each state's number of winners is proportional to its share of the nation's population.

According to the nonprofit, local winners from the class of 2020 include:

Jonathan D. Merchan, of Skokie, graduated from Loyola Academy and has a probable career in academia.

Jacob M. Miller, of Skokie, graduated from Ida Crown Jewish Academy. His likely career field is mathematics.

Irena S. Petryk, of Morton Grove, graduated from Niles West High School and intends to study law with a focus on intellectual property.

Owen D. Stephenson, of Skokie, graduated from Niles North High School and plans to pursue a career in physics.

Earlier: Seniors At Skokie Schools Named National Merit Semifinalists

In addition to selecting winners of the $2,500 cash awards, National Merit also distributes college-sponsored and corporate-sponsored scholarships, most of which are restricted to those already accepted into participating colleges and university or the family of participating employers.

A final round of scholarships consisting of about 800 college-sponsored awards will be announced in July, National Merit announced, bringing the total number of winners to about 7,600.

More than $30 million in scholarships will have been awarded by the end of this year's competition, according to the nonprofit.