Hawken Tops Area Independents in National Merit Semifinalists

For the second consecutive year, Hawken has surpassed all other Cleveland area independent schools in the number of students qualifying as National Merit Scholarship Semi-finalists. Congratulations go to seniors David Aronoff, Nate Baker, Timothy Callahan, Ozan Cubukcu, Dylan Ford, Alisa Foti, David Gerson, John Kachurek, Adam Kanter, Charlie Marks, Randi Michel, Peter Mintun, Lauren Sedlak, Maya Shumyatcher, and Samantha Stilson. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. This year, more than 1.5 million students entered the competition as juniors when they took the Preliminary SAT test. The semifinalists represent an elite group that makes up less than 1 percent of high school seniors nationally. Congratulations also go to Myles Simmons, who was named a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. Conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., Achievement Scholarships are bestowed on academically talented African American students.