Cherokee High School Students Recognized as National Merit Commended Students Eleven students from Cherokee High School have been recognized as “National Merit Commended Students” in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has been presented to these scholastically talented students. Congratulations to Ryan Bachman, Adam Fik, Stacey Gruber, Rayeen Islam, Sean Kaup, Anisha Kuppili, Aidan Lynn, Thomas Marshall, Lennon Pak, Puja Patel, and Akriti Thavanai. These students are being recognized for their exceptional academic progress. Each student has placed among the top 50,000 scorers who entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) last October. Shawnee High School Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program Shawnee High Commended Students, Left to Right: Ali Batmaz, Jake Steelman, James DiBlasi and Elisabeth Vigorita. (Photo by Christian Hochenberger/Courtesy of Shawnee High School) Shawnee High School is proud to announce and congratulate Seniors Ali Batmaz, James DiBlasi, Jake Steelman and Elisabeth Vigorita, who have been named as Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2025 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). “Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.” Shawnee High School National Merit Semifinalist Shawnee High School National Merit Semifinalist Senior Noah Stapleton.(Photo by Christian Hochenberger/Courtesy of Shawnee High School) Shawnee High School is proud to congratulate Senior Noah Stapleton who has been named a National Merit Semifinalist in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Noah will join the nationwide pool of approximately 16,000 academically talented high school seniors to compete for the finalist places and the National Merit Scholarships. Semifinalists placed in the top one percent of the more than 1.6 million students who took the 2023 Preliminary SAT’s/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The recently announced semifinalists are the highest scoring students in each state. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship, each Semifinalist must fulfill several requirements in order to advance to the Finalist level of competition, including submitting a record of their academic performance, community service, and honors and awards. The National Merit Scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2025. Photo Captions (Photo by Christian Hochenberger) Noah Stapleton: “”