9 Strongsville High Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Nine members of Strongsville High School's class of 2018 have been named National Merit Semifinalists. Strongsville has the 15th most Semifinalists in the state and is tied for third most in Cuyahoga County.

The high school's designated Semifinalists are: Christina Fogwell, Jacqueline Foley, James Foley, Erika Lee, Satya Nayagam, Shyam Polaconda, Hannah Schmidt, Suraj Srinivasan and Rosemary Zaleski.

Those students will continue in the National Merit Scholarship competition. They will be able to compete for awards offered next spring as well as scholarships offered through colleges and corporations. (To stay up to date on these stories, subscribe to the Patch Strongsville newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

The National Merits Scholarship group has already designated 16,000 semifinalists. Approximately 1.6 million student entered consideration. Those students represent 22,000 high schools.

“Strongsville High School students continue to accomplish amazing things, both inside and outside of the classroom. We are so proud of these National Merit Semifinalists. They represent the very best of Strongsville students. We look forward to their potential next step in the National Merit selection process and are confident that this is another step toward future significant accomplishments by these students,” said Mark Smithberger, principal at Strongsville High School in a statement.

To be named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists a student must submit a detailed application including information on their academic record, extracurriculars, employment, leadership abilities and other honors and awards received. The student must also get a recommendation letter from a faculty member, write an essay and earn a qualifying score on the SAT.

Photo from Strongsville Schools