Hard work and discipline have paid off for high school senior Rebecca Levy of Hollywood, who recently joined a select group of students nationwide named National Merit scholar semifinalists.
“This is an award I have been working toward for a really long time,” said Levy, a student at St. Thomas Aquinas High in Fort Lauderdale. “It was definitely a confidence booster.”
After college, Levy hopes to become an astronaut.
In all, Broward County claims 113 of the nation’s top students, with Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale having the most with 32. Students and teachers from the school take pride in knowing the school was one of the top in Florida. Saint Thomas Aquinas High had 28 semifinalists this year.
The semifinalists represent 20 public and private high schools in Broward and one Broward home-schooled student.
“We have an effective program in place where we work with students testing for National Merit,” said St. Thomas math teacher Bob Byrne, who coaches students in advanced mathematics for the test. “The whole purpose is to provide them with the opportunity to gain admission to the schools they choose.”
Out of 1.3 million test takers, 16,000 students nationwide achieved the rank of National Merit semifinalist.
To achieve it, students have to earn a minimum required score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test. The test focuses on advanced reading, writing and math skills.
The academic, extracurricular and community service records of semifinalists in the competition are reviewed by the Evanston, Ill.-based National Merit Scholarship Corp., and about 90 percent of the students will be named as finalists in spring 2004.
From this group, about 8,000 finalists will receive college scholarships worth about $30 million.
Becoming a semifinalist in Florida earns students Bright Futures scholarships to Florida’s public universities, an award that can pay for an entire four-year education.
Peter Bernard can be reached at or 954-356-4525.
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR SEMIFINALISTS
The following students at schools in Broward County have been named National Merit scholar semifinalists for 2004:
Archbishop McCarthy High, Pembroke Pines: Patrick Annesty, Ramiro Palma and Margaret Wickett
Blanche Ely High, Pompano Beach: Daniel Kitchener, Brian Sparling and Stefan Vitorovic
Boyd H. Anderson High, Lauderdale Lakes: Michelle Forelle
Cardinal Gibbons High, Fort Lauderdale: Jenna Ravine
Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory, Hollywood: Patrick Rivas and Matthew Rosenthal
College Academy @ BCC, Davie: Keegan Shepherd
Cooper City High: Robin Hunter, Erin Koksal and Michael Sori
Cypress Bay High, Weston: Jillian Kratish and Erica Wells
J.P. Taravella High, Coral Springs: Jungmin Lee, David Rothenberg, Alyson Stanke and Rebecca Tang
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, Parkland: Brett Amelkin, Jason Commander, Ban Dickens, Christian Garabaya, Andrew Levine, Sarah Martin, Gregory Mazlin, Aaron Merlob, Matthew Schindel and Albin Xavier
McArthur High, Hollywood: James Davis
North Broward Preparatory School, Coconut Creek: Jonathan Ballerano and Jesse West
Nova High, Davie: Jed Cairo, Jai Krishnan and Jonathan Reinstein
Pine Crest School, Fort Lauderdale: Emily Bogenschutz, Joseph Carpenter, Kristina Cary, Peter Catsimpiris, Aaron Cherof, Eric Dreyer, Amanda Drucker, Ross Elliot, Rachel Geronemus, Danielle Gilbert, Grant Gittlin, Alison Hess, Andrew Jacobs, Meera Kamath, Rachel Kaplan-Werner, Joseph Katz, Jonathan Kimmel, Aaron Kolenda, Pavlik Linden, Aditi Mallick, Jeffrey Marsceill, Ryan Mason, Adam Mizrachi, Erin Muckey, Erica Pantel, Jessica Reich, Anthony Roggio, Brooke Rosenkrantz, Scott Schonfeld, Kimberly Shampain, Sarah Weinstein and Nicholas Winocur
Piper High, Sunrise: Nadia Elkordy
St. Thomas Aquinas High, Fort Lauderdale: Jacquelyn Banas, Susan Cavnar, Leilia Clagett, Caitlin Cloney, Natasha Deen, Dominique Elden, Jason Fraser, John George, Christopher Gordon, Anna Ho, Shannon Kelley, Siena Konscol, Brett Kushner, Maria Laverde, Joseph Letszelter, Rebecca Levy, Louis Mieszkowski, John Odenweller, Kayleigh O’Keefe, Christina Patsiokas, Megan Perez, Samuel Poole, Ryan Rizzo, Samantha Rush, Cassidy Schram, Elise Springer, Justin Tait and Lindsay Williams
South Plantation High: Walker Frahm and Anna Slagle
The University School of Nova Southeastern University, Davie: Aneesh Deshpande, Carrie Fertig, Angela Fontana, Mallory Gold, Jeffrey Goldstein, Mallory Hellman, Daniel Iden, Danielle Larocco, Perry Leibovitz, Jared Leibowich and Randy Ohel
Westminster Academy, Fort Lauderdale: Kelly Stapleton
Western High, Davie: Kristin Everett
Home-schooled: Elisa Scarpetti of Pompano Beach
