Cranston Student Earns National Merit Scholarship

CRANSTON, RI — A student from Cranston won a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday.

Kalliana Marek, a home school student, was one of just eight graduating seniors from Rhode Island to win the scholarship. After college, she plans to get a career in chemical engineering.

Each year, thousands of students test to qualify for NMSC scholarships. The awards come in several rounds, including awards sponsored by corporations and by the NMSC itself. This round was for scholarships sponsored by NMSC.

"These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official," a spokesperson for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said.

The Rhode Island winners were:

• Lucy Dreier — Barrington High School
• Aditi Mehta — Mount Hope High School, Bristol
• Lauren Richard — La Salle Academy, Providence
• Kalliana Marek — Homeschool, Cranston
• Sara Gomez — East Greenwich High School
• Elias Weisbord — Moses Brown School, Providence
• Julia Xu — East Greenwich High School
• Elena Martha Hurtado Solberg — Classical High School Providence.