Four Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School seniors, Jacob Gartley, D. Brock Saftner, Francesca Taylor, and Hannah Valenty, have been named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors. In addition to their demonstration of academic talent, all four are student-athletes at OLSH, playing key roles on the soccer, baseball, football, basketball, cross country, and track & field teams, and student-leaders, in OLSH’s Student Ambassador group, National Honor Society, and Student Government.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their school plays in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”