Four Hanover Park Seniors Named
National Merit Scholarship Finalists

John Lu, Sohum Pawar, Emily Portuguese, and Mira Wang were named as finalists for this year's National Merit Scholarship Program.

“Our students have proven themselves to be outstanding scholars whose efforts have been recognized by being ranked among the top 16,000 National Merit Finalists out of 1.5 million students who took the PSAT in October of 2012,” said Carol Grossi, Superintendent of Schools. “I applaud our students' efforts and congratulate each of them in accomplishing this truly significant achievement.”

Placement in the NMSP is derived from performance on the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and an initial screen of program entrants. The four students named this year in Dexter took those tests in October 2013. They are among 1.5 million students in 22,000 high schools across the country that entered the program when taking the screening tests during their junior year.

“I am extremely proud of John, Emily, Sohum, and Mira. This achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication to their academic studies”, said Tom Callanan, principal of Hanover Park High School. “They represent the best that this school has to offer and I commend them for their scholarship, leadership, and service to the Hanover Park community.” He also noted that the school has not had this many finalists in several years.

John, Emily, Sohum, and Mira represent the very best at Hanover Park, both inside and outside of the classroom. Several faculty members that have taught the finalists shared their thoughts about their accomplishments. These students are “without question among the most responsible, inquiry-devoted students I’ve encountered during my ten-year career at Hanover Park High School”, said Colleen Harvan, an English teacher at the high school. “It is not just their intelligence, ambition, and skills, but their enthusiasm and excitement and willingness to go outside of their comfort zone that sets them apart”, said history teacher Ryan Thomas.

Last September nearly 16,000 students representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors were recognized as National Merit Semifinalists in the early stage of the process. To advance in the competition, these students subsequently took the SAT Reasoning Test, completed a lengthy application and submitted a comprehensive letter of recommendation from their high school counselor.

Amy Wasser, District Supervisor of Guidance, said “the honor of being selected underscores the talents, skills, and accomplishments of these four outstanding students. I congratulate John, Sohum, Emily, and Mira on being selected as finalists in the 2014 competition for the National Merit Scholarship.”

The awards are supported by 450 independent sponsors and by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Finalists can earn up to $2,500 in scholarship money from the program's National Merit scholarships, corporate-sponsored merit scholarship awards, and college-sponsored merit scholarship awards.