Nine Penn students named National Merit Finalists

Penn High School Principal Steve Hope announced that nine Penn students – Edward Atkinson, Jack Bao, Rohit Das, Raina DeVries, Katherine Lutz, Olivia Mercurio, Yejee Oh, Eric Pfrender, Christopher Yun – have been named National Merit Finalists.

“The National Merit Finalists from Penn represent the top one percent of all students in the United States,” Hope. “There is no higher academic honor than to be called a National Merit Finalist.

“These students have earned the respect of their teachers and peers by applying themselves and working hard to become elite scholars,” Hope continued. “We are proud of them and we are proud to have supported them on their academic journey.” 

Penn’s National Merit Finalists are in competition for an approximate 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million. About half of the Finalists win a National Merit Scholarship.

The National Merit Scholarship program, which was established in 1955, honors the nation’s scholastic champions and the pursuit of academic excellence.