School news

Kersti Francis of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy has been named a semifinalist in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program. The only high school student qualifier in Suffolk, this senior has an opportunity to continue for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth more than $35 million, which will be offered next spring. More than 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2009 National Merit Program by taking the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Semifinalists are the highest-scoring entrants in each state and represent less than 1 percent of the states' graduating seniors. Eight NSA seniors — Alex Dakos, Lisa Kessler, Matthew Kloeppel, Tyler Menefee, Mohamed Aboulatta, Achal Patel, Sachi Patel and Benjamin Willis — have been... [read full story]