Seniors At Skokie Schools Named National Merit Semifinalists

SKOKIE, IL — Five seniors from Skokie high schools have been named 2020 National Merit semifinalists. The semifinalists announced Wednesday from Niles North High School, Niles West High School and Ida Crown Jewish Academy are among approximately 16,000 high-school seniors set to compete for fewer than 7,000 scholarships of up to several thousand dollars due to be awarded next spring.

Over 90 percent of the semifinalists will be named as finalists for the scholarship, according to a release from the Evanston-based National Merit Scholarship Program. Of those 15,000 finalists, about half will win a scholarship.

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship by taking the 2018 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualification Test, which provides an initial screen of entrants.

The semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of all high school seniors in the U.S. For each state, the number of semifinalists is proportional to that state’s percentage of the total graduating seniors in the country.

Here are the semifinalists for the scholarship from schools in Skokie:

• Daniel M. Cudzich, Niles West High School
• Jacob M. Miller, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
• Irena S. Petryk, Niles West High School
• Henry B. Rousseau, Niles West High School
• Owen D. Stephenson, Niles North High School

UPDATE: National Merit Scholarships Awarded To 4 Niles Township Residents

To become a finalist, the program explains that students and a high school official must submit a detailed application. The application must contain information about a student’s academic record, leadership abilities, the honors and awards they’ve received and more.

Students will find out in February whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April 2020.

Earlier:

• Trio Of District 219 Students Named 2019 National Merit Semifinalists
• Niles North Student Wins National Merit Scholarship To Northwestern
• Niles West Student Awarded National Merit Cash Scholarship

For more local news and information, subscribe to the Skokie Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts or download the iPhone or Android app.