Local high school students earn National Merit Scholarship honors

As juniors in high school, more than one and a half million students enter the National Merit Scholarship contest by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. Only those who score in the top 5 percent are awarded National Merit Scholarship honors as seniors.

Two Riverhead High School students and a Bishop McGann-Mercy High School student have been named Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program as a result of their outstanding scores on the qualifying exam.

Riverhead seniors Sarah Vunkannon and Robert Stahl and Mercy student Isabella Sorgi earned letters of commendation and praise from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

“The young men and women 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 schools play 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.”

Vunkannon, Stahl and Sorgi are among approximately 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation recognized for their exceptional academic promise. 

Sorgi is a member of the National Honor Society and the math and science honor societies and a star athlete at McGann-Mercy, playing both softball and tennis.

Assistant Principal Lisa Navarra had this to say about her, “Isabella is truly a unique student who holds dual citizenship both here and in Finland. She spends her school breaks volunteering in Finland, working with Somali refugees. Not only is she a fabulous pupil and athlete, most importantly she is a humanitarian as well.”