Baldwin Senior Named National Merit Finalist

Excerpt from article:

BALDWIN, NY. — As spring approaches, high school seniors around the country are settling into the age-old routine of “senioritis”: taking their foot off the academic gas pedal as their high school career winds down, and preparing for whatever might come next. For Baldwin High School senior Luna Questelles, however, there’s still one hurdle left to clear: The quest for a National Merit Scholarship, which Questelles was named a finalist for this week.

The Merit Scholarship program gives out $26 million in scholarships annually to 6,930 high school students from across the country, considering the student applicants on a comprehensive list of criteria including academic record, community involvement both at and outside school, leadership skills, employment history, honors, endorsements, and an application essay.

While academic track record wasn’t the only criteria considered by Merit Scholarship reviewers, Questelles did have that in spades: The senior recorded a perfect score on the PSAT and a 1560 on the SAT. While those scores already put Questelles in rarified air academically, the award of a Merit Scholarship, district officials said, would place Questelles among the highest-achieving students in the country.

Read the full article online in the Patch