National Merit Commended Scholars

Congratulations to seniors Ben Hazel and Aaron Lassmann for being named National Merit Commended Scholars.  There were nine students from Clear Springs to achieve this honor this year.

The National Merit^® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT^®)—a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

In late September, more than two-thirds (about 34,000) of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT^® receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index score that may vary from year to year and is typically below the level required for participants to be named Semifinalists in their respective states. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit^® Scholarships, some of these students do become candidates for Special Scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.