In an upper school assembly, the Head of O’Neal School, John Elmore, recognized three students receiving National Merit certificates. All seniors, Charlie Kuzma received a Letter of Commendation; Audrey Kim and Lauren Kuhn have been named National Merit Finalists and each received a Certificate of Merit.
Charlie, son of Dr. and Mrs. Charles Kuzma of Foxfire, is one of 34,000 students in the nation receiving a commendation in recognition for his exceptional academic promise. Commended students placed among the top 50,000 who entered the 2024 competition by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).
Finalists Audrey Kim, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Eugene Kim of Pinehurst, and Lauren Kuhn, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Ritt Kuhn of Pinehurst, are among approximately 15,000 students to receive a Certificate of Merit. All Finalists will automatically be awarded scholarships at many colleges and universities, and they will be eligible for corporate scholarships in various fields and areas.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. Of over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 advance to the Finalist level.
Feature photo: National Merit Award Winners (L-R) Audrey Kim, Charlie Kuzma and Lauren Kuhn.
Contributed/Courtesy photo.
