5 Bellmore-Merrick Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Photo: (top) Nicholas Kearney, a student at Sanford H. Calhoun High School and JFK’s Justin Shapiro, Seth Gottlieb, Beatrice Brown, and Nicholas Field (bottom). Credit: Bellmore-Merrick School District

Five high school students in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District have been designated as semifinalists in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Competition, a distinction that will allow them to be considered as finalists for the prestigious academic award.

The students join a list of approximately 16,000 others in the nation who have shown similar academic talent and rigor. The students will be in the running to collect some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $33 million, which will be handed out this spring.

The students are:

• Nicholas Kearney, Sanford H. Calhoun High School
• Beatrice Brown, John F. Kennedy High School
• Nicholas Field, John F. Kennedy High School
• Seth Gottlieb, John F. Kennedy High School
• Justin Shapiro, John F. Kennedy High School

“I am very happy for the students and their families,” said Bellmore-Merrick Superintendent John DeTommaso. “I know how hard these kids work and it’s wonderful that their dedication to academics paid off with this incredible and well-deserved recognition.”

The National Merit Scholarship Program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.