Jesuit High School recognized nine National Merit Semifinalists and 14 National Merit Commended Students at Convocation on Friday (Sept. 13). The combined 23 Semifinalists and Commended Students is among the highest in school history.
National Merit recognition is based on the PSAT score, a standardized test administered in October of their junior year. About 16,000 Semifinalists annually nationwide are honored from well over one million who take the PSAT. Semifinalists will continue in the pursuit of 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be determined in the spring.
Jesuit principal/acting president Mike Scicchitano introduced the nine members of the Class of 2025 who are Semifinalists: Garrett Boyes, Keegan Clamp, Logan Hardin, Jake Judson, Daniel Odio, Oscar Olivera, Ryan Rooth, Will Stanton, and Ethan Wall.
Scicchitano congratulated them for their achievement and acknowledged the dedicated teachers who have helped them, and also recognized the unique academic challenge these students faced as 8th and 9th graders navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is like being an Academic State Champion, he said.
Scicchitano also introduced the 14 Commended Students: Aidan Agustines, Hendrix Bromberg, Bo Bunch, Landon Cannaday, Nick Deakin, Daniel Dewey, Robby Dyer, Michael Galiani, Oliver Hund, Luke Mezher, Jake Taylor, Brody Thurston, Nick Uteg, and Cooper Vattamattam.
Over the past 7 years, 62 Jesuit students have achieved Semifinalist recognition and 86 have been named Commended Students, for a total of 148 recognized by National Merit that span, about 21 annually. With the nine Semifinalists, once again this year no Tampa Bay area school produced more boys Semifinalists than Jesuit. Over the past 14 years, every National Merit Semifinalist from Jesuit has achieved Finalist status and consideration for an array of scholarships.
After Convocation, the students and their families celebrated their achievement with a reception in the MPR.
To view the video of Convocation this morning, click here. For photos, go to the Facebook page Jesuit High School of Tampa.