Bellmore-Merrick BOE Recognizes National Merit Semifinalists

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s Board of Education recognized five high school students in the district for their designation 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 are:

• Nicholas Kearney, senior, Sanford H. Calhoun High School. Nicholas has created computer programs by teaching himself Python and Java computer languages from manuals and websites. He continues to pursue a second year of Computer Programming with AP Computer Science and his future goals include becoming a software engineer and game developer. He also earned a perfect score on the AP English Language Exam.
• Beatrice Brown, senior, John F. Kennedy High School. Beatrice is a member of five honor societies and is Kennedy’s Class of 2015 Valedictorian. She received the National Spanish Exam Gold Medal two years in a row and was a 2014 American Museum of Natural History Young Naturalist Awards finalist.
• Nicholas Field, senior, John F. Kennedy High School. Nicholas is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society and Math Honor Society. He is an AP Scholar with Honor and placed first in Kennedy’s Science Fair.
• Seth Gottlieb, senior, John F. Kennedy High School. Seth is a member of the National Honor Society and the Science Honor Society. He is president of the Math Club and has attended the Center for Talented Youth programs at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University and Dickinson College.
• Justin Shapiro, senior, John F. Kennedy High School. Justin is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Outside of school, Shapiro gives presentations on behalf of the Climate Reality Project. He plans to attend law school.

More Bellmore-Merrick school news:

• 5 Bellmore-Merrick Students Make All-State NYSSMA
• Smooth Sailing at Mepham Homecoming Game
• Bellmore-Merrick Students Named Hispanic Recognition Scholars
• Mepham English Teacher Honored with Educator of Excellence Award

Each student was presented with a certificate of congratulations from members of the board at its Oct. 15 meeting.

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

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. Scholarship winners will be announced in the spring.

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Submitted by Bellmore-Merrick School District