17 earn National Merit Commended status

Owen Bell, Samuel Cuba, Frankie Dubreil, Ian Dvorin, Luke Fisher, Jacob Higgs, Aaryan Kumar, Chengran Li, Opal Miller, Grace Myers, Armen Pettit, Dominic Rocco, Eitan Schwartz, Yuhong Shi, Thomas Slowey, Darcy Vilkner and Ezra Zahalsky are among the 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation who are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) last October.

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. “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.”

Earlier this month the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the program’s Semifinalists, which included six Upper St. Clair seniors. In total, 23 Upper St. Clair students earned recognition as a Semifinalist or Commended Student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.

For more information regarding the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit: www.nationalmerit.org.