Student Spotlight Five Rosary Students Recognized by National Merit Scholar Program Three Rosary High School seniors— Alyssa Mertka, Rachel Neff, and Isabelle Ylo—have been named finalists in the 60th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Two students—Melody FisherLewek and Heather Hawkins—were named commended students in the program. Mertka, Neff and Ylo are among 15,000 finalists, representing less than one percent of high school seniors in the United States to attain this status. The students were initially named semifinalists last Fall after earning the highest scores on the 2013 Preliminary SATs, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. As finalists, the students remain in the running for about 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million. National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in the Spring and Summer. Alyssa Mertka is the daughter of William and Susan Mertka of Geneva; Rachel Neff is the daughter of Charles and Bridget Neff of Batavia; and Isabelle Ylo is the daughter of Eugene and Terry Ylo of North Aurora. The commended students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who took the 2013 PSAT. Melody FisherLewek is the daughter of Candace Fisher and Lawrence Lewek of Batavia, and Heather Hawkins is the daughter of Lary and Jean Hawkins of DeKalb. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and to encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.
Pictured, from left, are: Front Row: Isabelle Ylo, Alyssa Mertka, and Heather Hawkins. Back row: Melody FisherLewek and Rachel Neff.
Academic Award Recipients The following 45 Rosary students received Academic Awards in October for earning an average of 4.0 or above the last two semesters (Semesters 1 and 2 of the 2013-14 school year). Students attaining this award for the first time receive a letter, then receive a pin for subsequent awards. Sophomores
Seniors
Molly Curley, Ashley Fritz, Erin Hawkins, Julia Isaacs, Kennedy Jenig, Maggie Neff, Gabriella Pruneda, Elizabeth Sayasane, Anna Stephens, Olivia Wulbert
Katherine Bruckner, Martha Buchert, Alexandra Carter, Magdalene Eallonardo, Melody FisherLewek, Brittany Hamling, Heather Hawkins, Catherine Hayes, Elizabeth Kaczorowski, Emily Martin, Brittany McCullough, Alyssa Mertka, Rachel Neff, Sarah Neidermann, McKenna Novack, Victoria Pho, Suzanne Quinn, Mallory Rettenmeier, Genevieve Streich, Isabelle Ylo
Juniors Neethara Abraham, Alissa Brankey, Isabella Duarte, Hannah Eng, Kate Jarecki, Gretchen Klug, Christina Koranda, Mackenzie Malley, Sonja Popovich, Tori Pyle, Katherine Rentz, Madison Ronzone, Lauryn Streid, Grace Wehner, Kara Wong
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