Solon High Has 19 National Merit Commended Scholars

SOLON, OH — Thirty-eight Solon High students have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists or commended scholars, the district announced this week. The students qualified for the designations based on their performances in the classroom, in the community and on the PSAT.

“The members of this year’s senior class are already distinguishing themselves in many ways,” said Solon High School Principal Erin Short. “We are proud of the accomplishments of these 38 students. Having 19 seniors on the semi-finalist list and another 19 named as commended scholars ranks Solon High School as one of the top schools in the state for National Merit recognition regardless of private, public or parochial school status.”

Solon High's 19 semifinalists for 2020 are: Kush Addepalli, Anthony Ahn, Alexandra Epelbaum, Shourjya Ghosh, Alex Huang, Ruth Johnson, Silas Johnson, Gina Kong, Hayden Mesnick, Shadhvika Nandhakumar, Ethan Pitzel, Julia Polster, Wenzhao Qui, Catherine Wang, Stephanie Wang, Yifan Wang, Yiting Yang, Kevin Zhou and Rachel Zhou.

The school's 19 National Merit commended scholars are: Anna Bleich, Charles Constanzo, Sandy Deng, Urvee Deo, Luke Hansen, Andrew Lebowitz, Mabel Lee, Derek Li, Jang-Ai Lin, Venkata Sai Hars Malasani, Michael Malyshev, Daniel Neese, Ervin Qalliaj, Chinmaya Sahoo, Nicholas Thomas, Amanda Weiskind, Megan Wiser, Maggie Yang and Mehmet Yilmaz.

Approximately 1.6 million students take the PSAT annually. From that massive group, semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of students. There are approximately 50,000 commended scholars nationwide.

Semifinalists will move on in the competition and will have an opportunity to compete for scholarships.

“These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation,” according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.