Twenty-five Rockwall ISD students were honored for their National Merit commendations at The Elite reception sponsored by Kroger off Goliad in Rockwall. Each student gave a speech and brought their most influential teacher with them.
“We celebrated these phenomenal students who came into the district with advanced academic skills second to none,” said Dr. John Villarreal, superintendent of Rockwall ISD. “As we prepare to send them off to college, Rockwall ISD can feel confident that we are continuing to prepare students for the twenty-first century life, career and college.”
Among those honored was Jamie Hall, a Rockwall High School Senior, who was recently named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. Approximately 1.6 million students across the country took the qualifying test and only 16,000 qualified for this high honor, placing Jamie in the top 1% of all students in the nation.
“We are very proud of Jamie for showing the excellence we all see in her,” said Dr. Courtney Gober, principal of Rockwall High School. “Jamie represents the best of Rockwall High School and we are very proud of her.”
Twenty-one Rockwall ISD students are among the 50,000 National Merit Commended students throughout the nation recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students are among the top five percent of more than one million students.
Additionally, four students are among 5,000 students who were selected as Hispanic Scholars for their performance on the 2015 PSAT. The National Hispanic Recognition Program, established in 1983, is a College Board program that provides national recognition of the exceptional academic achievement of Hispanic high school seniors and identifies them for postsecondary institutions.
The students, listed below, entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. One student earned both honors, making 24 the total number of district students to receive a recognition.
National Merit Commended – Rockwall High School
Katherine Berger
Ethan Dupre
Benjamin Fields
Eric Harbin
Grant Miller
Griffin Perkins
Tyler Saathoff
Daniel Scivetti
Dan Anh Ton
Joshua Villarreal (Also a National Hispanic Scholar)
Abigail White
Thaddeus Whitfield
Maya Wiemokly
National Merit Commended – Rockwall-Heath High School
Sydney Best
Jonathan Blackburn
Madeline Christensen
Marley Esch
Elizabeth Gersch
Grayson Smartt
Andrew Spletter
Emma Young
National Hispanic Scholars – Rockwall High School
Brandon Gan
Joseph Molinar
Joshua Villarreal (Also a National Merit Commended student)
National Hispanic Scholar – Rockwall-Heath High School
Dawson Booth
