Penn High School students honored as Commended Scholars

Members of the Penn High School Class of 2027 were recently honored by Principal Rachel Fry for earning status as Commended Students in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Penn’s Commended Scholars include:

• James Casper
• Johnson Chen
• Sobrin Fitwi
• Mia Helm
• Landen Hendricks
• Brady Higginbotham
• Ava Hurley
• Anton Kozelichki
• Cathlyn Kulba
• Ava Lightburn
• Addison Singleton
• Allison Sommers
• Haley Steinway
• Noah Teeple
• Claire Woolman
• Aaron Yoon
• Kaiyi Zhao

Commended Students are recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their exceptional academic promise.

Approximately 34,000 high school seniors nationwide are receiving Letters of Commendation through the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are among the top 50,000 scorers from more than 1.2 million students who entered the competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, their outstanding performance represents a significant academic achievement and places them among the highest-performing students in the nation.

Fry and the Penn High School community congratulate our commended scholars on earning this prestigious national recognition.

Their achievement reflects their dedication to academic excellence and the support of their families, teachers and the Penn-Harris-Madison educational community.