Central students commended by National Merit program

Twelve Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District seniors have been designated as Commended students in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program.

•From Calhoun High School, they are: Kieran Barrett-Snyder, Gabriel Jay, Eric Ravens, Daniel Sconzo, Duncan Sheridan and Nicholas Skarren.

•From Kennedy High School: Joshua Baron, Gregory Mora, Rohan Nagpal and Aaron Plass.

•From Mepham High School: Shire Konigstein and Matthew Panzarino.

The 12 were among 1.5 million students who took the 2012 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in October 2012. The 50,000 students who scored highest on the test were offered the College Plans Reporting Service in April.

In September, 16,000 of the students were notified that they made it to the semifinalist stage, including Max Mogel from Calhoun, Russell Miner from Kennedy, and Aaron Goldstein and Brian Keohane from Mepham. The remaining 34,000 high-achieving students were named Commended students and will receive letters of commendation from the program.

Superintendent John DeTommaso congratulated the Bellmore-Merrick students, saying, “It is truly a testament of their hard work, dedication and commitment to academic excellence now and in their futures.”