Three Country Day Students Named National Merit Semifinalists, Six Honored as Commended Students, and 10 Received National Recognition

The National Merit Scholarship Program has named three Cincinnati Country Day School students as National Merit Semifinalists. Congratulations to Ayaan Arif `25, Louisa Joy `25, and Nikhil Shah `25. Congratulations are also in order for Sarah Fu `25, Trevor Gregorsok `25, Jordan Lowe `25, Jack Monroe `25, Ashley Odom `25, and Zac Vaughan `25, who were named National Merit Commended Students.  

“These are wonderful students, whose energy, curiosity, and talent represent all that Country Day seeks to instill in our students,” says Sarah Beyreis, director of college counseling and external opportunities. “We know they will go on to do great things in college.” 

To become a finalist, the semifinalist must submit a detailed scholarship application, possess an outstanding academic record throughout high school, and be recommended by a high school official. Over 1.3 million juniors in approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).  
 
While the six Commended Students will not be moving forward in the 2025 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, they achieved impressive recognition by placing among the top 34,000 high school students in the country. 

Additionally, six Country Day students were honored in the National African American Recognition Program: Donovan Gray `25, Ashley Odom `25, Kevin Pearson `25, Myles Shaw `26, Rokhaya Thomas `25, Imri Young `25; and four students were honored in the National Hispanic Recognition Program: Gabriel Benitez `26, Yvannia Buten `26, Vic Quintero `25, Lucia Murdoch `25.  

Gray, Odom, and Young were honored last year as part of the National African American Recognition Program, and Murdoch and Quintero were also honored last year as part of the National Hispanic Recognition Program.  

According to the College Board website, the National Recognition Programs bestow academic honors to underrepresented students. While this is not a scholarship program, recipients are strong academic performers, and many colleges intentionally recruit awardees. 

“Country Day is fortunate to have so many hard-working and accomplished students,” says Jenn Weinheimer, head of Upper School. “This national recognition is well deserved for performance on a test that so many students find so daunting. While standardized tests are only one measure of accomplishment, many of these students have also impressed us with their contributions in the classroom, in the community, and on the athletic fields and courts. We are always excited to celebrate our students and congratulate these students on this impressive achievement.” 
 
For more information about the National Merit Scholarship program, visit https://www.nationalmerit.org.  

Photo (top row left to right): Gabriel Benitez `26 (Loveland), Trevor Gregorsok `25 (Loveland), Nikhil Shah `25 (Indian Hill), Aayan Arif `25 (Mason), Jack Monroe `25 (New Richmond), Kevin Pearson `25 (Forest Park), Rokhaya Thomas `25 (Maineville), Myles Shaw ’26 (West Chester); bottom row left to right: Yvannia Buten `26 (Mount Lookout), Louisa Joy `25 (Walnut Hills), Zac Vaughan `25 (Indian Hill), Jordan Lowe `25 (Montgomery), Ashley Odom `25 (Liberty Township), Sarah Fu `25 (Mason), Donovan Gray `25 (Liberty Township), Imri Young `25 (Loveland), Vic Quintero `25 (Kenwood); not pictured: Lucia Murdoch `25 (Hyde Park)