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Seniors Recognized by National Merit Program

Sixteen Rockhurst High School members of the Class of 2023 were awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Eleven were selected as National Merit Commended Students and five were selected as National Merit Semifinalists.

The 11 Commended Students are Grant

and Joseph Torrey. They are among the top 50,000 performers nationally, out of more than 1.5 million, based on the 2021 PSAT/NMSQT standardized tests.

The five Semifinalists are James

Lundstrom, Wes Roeder, and Max Smith. They are among the top 16,000 performers nationally; approximately 15,000 from within this group will be announced as Finalists in February 2023.

Each scholar spoke to his National Merit Semifinalist selection: JAMES DONOHUE: “The National Merit Semifinalist selection, for me, is a demonstration of all the hard work that I have put into my education and all of the support and assistance I have received throughout my high school journey from teachers, classmates, friends, and family. My favorite things about Rockhurst include its rigorous academics, numerous co-curricular activities, supportive staff and teachers, and, most of all, its amazing brotherhood of students.”

THOMAS KENNEDY: “The National Merit Semifinalist selection has provided me an opportunity to bring my goal of becoming a doctor one step closer. Given the cost of medical school, I hope to avoid taking out loans to pay for my undergraduate degree, and National Merit Scholarships make that goal more achievable. As such, I am incredibly grateful that I was selected.”

Five seniors selected as National Merit Semifinalists. Pictured left to right between Fr. Principal Giacabazi, SJ, and President Laughlin: Charlie Lundstrom, Wes Roeder, Thomas Kennedy, James Donohue, and Max Smith.

CHARLIE LUNDSTROM: “I am happy for the National Merit Semifinalist recognition. I have worked hard at my studies for my time at Rockhurst, and being recognized for it feels like a great payoff. I love the teachers at Rockhurst and their passion.”

WES ROEDER: “This honor shows that the hard work my fellow Semifinalists and I have put into our education is paying off. Rockhurst has done an excellent job to prepare me not only for this test, but for my future as a successful young man. I would like to thank my parents for sending me to Rockhurst and all of my teachers for their contributions to my education over the past three years. This award would not have been possible without their efforts.”

MAX SMITH: “Being a National Merit Semifinalist, while intrinsically a great honor, is certainly a validation of my hard work. The Rockhurst community has done nothing but guide and support me throughout the past four years, and I will always cherish the friendships that I have been able to form here.”

All five young men are still working through the college decision process, but each has had new opportunities and scholarships made available to them through their recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Eleven seniors were named National Merit Commended Students. Pictured left to right between President Laughlin and Fr. Principal Giacabazi, SJ: Lukas Pitman, Dallas Dietsch, Freddie Graham, John Tietjen, Charlie Pace, Brian Humphrey, Grant Anielak, Nolan Shaw, Joseph Torrey, and Charlie Perricelli. Not pictured: Simon Connor.

Rockhurst’s Robotics Team, The Jesubots, won the Central Missouri Regional Competition in the spring and qualified for the World Championships over the summer. Coached by faculty members Andy Wilcox and Tim Nendick ’08, the team is hoping to build off of that success.

The Jesubots competed in the Cowtown Throwdown Offseason Competition October 28-29, and made it to the elimination rounds. This was the final (non-ranked) competition that included use of last year’s robot, so team leaders noted that it was an important opportunity for veteran members to mentor new members in a low-stakes real competition.

Team leaders are forming a “new member experience” committee from a variety of second-year team members to help inform how to better recruit, train, and retain student talent. A big emphasis for the 2022-23 season is students learning how to use computeraided design (CAD) to engineer the robot, so that the team can do more fabrication in-house instead of sourcing that work from outside of the building. The software, onshape, allows for collaboration and student involvement no matter their computer hardware. This will allow the team to more fully design their robot before construction starts. The team’s new season starts in early January, and the first competition will be at the end of March.

“Students have been upgrading our lab space, installing a new dust collection system and upgrading our CNC router,” said Nendick. “The upgrades allow us to manufacture metal tubing more efficiently, as well as enabling students to do 3-D carving in wood for their own personal projects at home or use in the research course. The upgraded CNC, alongside our desktop waterjet, allows us to design, build, and test the entirety of our 135-pound robot in house.”

Hawklets have also been building “swerve drive” modules that will allow the team’s robot to move in any direction, at full power, without turning.

And The Jesubots are not the only students working hard in the robotics room.

Wilcox shared: “The capstone project in Robotics 2 is a BotsKC BattleBot that is 100% student designed. Students learn how to use CAD and are tasked to attach a wheel/caster they drew to a base plate (also drawn by them in CAD).”

Rockhurst fall sports teams were entering their postseasons at the time of print. For information about the cross country, football, soccer, and swim & dive teams, visit www. GoHawklets.com or @GoHawklets on Twitter.