By:  Hannah Artner

On November 18th, approximately twenty Westborough High School students and their parents gathered in the Westborough High cafeteria to honor the students’ achievement in the National Merit Scholarship Program. The students had achieved National Merit status as a result of the standardized PSAT (Preliminary SAT) exam they took last October (13 months ago).

The breakfast was a success; every student piled their food high, not used to having a full breakfast on a weekday. It was a relaxed and fun ambiance. After the food was eaten, Mr. Smith, the principal, spoke. He congratulated the students on their achievements and wished them luck in the future. Mrs. Pellegrino spoke briefly as well. The administration made a good choice to keep the speeches short in order to keep the focus on the students and their success. Later, each student was called up to receive a certificate and shake hands with the principal. The students were all seniors and have been over-whelmed this year with balancing school, work, and the added pressure of college applications. This breakfast provided each student with a well-deserved moment to escape from the stress and enjoy the accomplishments they had already achieved.

Sixteen students were named Commended students. (see below) Six students are Semi-Finalists and tested in the top 1% nationally. These students were Ron Farizon, Rachel Ehrlich, Lucia Zhu, Diana Zeng, Bianca Homberg, and Keith Saver. In addition to being a commended student, Erin Silva was a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, which is exclusively for African-Americans.

The commended students are among the top 34,000 scorers out of the total of 1.5 million people who took the test. The Semi-Finalists are the within the top 16,000 students nationally. Typically, 95% of Semi-Finalists become Finalists. These students will receive scholarship opportunities from corporations, businesses, and various colleges.

It was a proud day for the senior class as they showed off their strength; last year’s graduating class had only two Semi-Finalists and this year, Westborough had six. It is one example, of many, of why this senior class has proved to be exceptional.

Commended Students

Hannah Artner, Russell Behmer, Michael Chiu, Jordan Hensley, Avina Joshi, Lisa Li, Amanda Lucier, Saharsh Mehta, Jeffrey Mettler, Alexander Millward, Richard Packer, Nikila Saravanan, Erin Silva, David Silverman, Ann-Marie Vu, Alexandria Webb, and Erika Ziegler.