CBA senior Cole Speidel of Manlius has been named a semifinalist in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

Over 1.5 million students took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last October which served as an initial screening of applicants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. National Merit Semifinalists will go on to compete for some 8,200 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $35 million, that will be offered next spring.

Seniors Dalia McKenzie of Syracuse and Alexander Ojugbeli of Chittenango have been selected as 2012-13 National Black American Scholars. These students scored in the top three percent of more than 160,000 Black Americans who requested consideration in the 2013 National Achievement Program when they took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The National Achievement Scholarship Program was initiated in 1964 specifically to honor academically promising Black American high school students.

Senior Courtney Finkbeiner of Fayetteville has also been selected as a 2012-13 National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar. The NHRP was initiated in 1983 to identify outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school students. This year, the NHRP has recognized about 5,000 Hispanic/Latino students selected from a pool of over 253,000 who took the 2011 PSAT/NMSQT/PAA. Students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher are designated as NHRP Scholars.

In addition, Finkbeiner was among a group of five seniors who were designated as Commended Students in the Program. Commended students are recognized for exceptional academic promise as demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the PSAT. These students received this distinguished honor by placing among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the competition. The other four CBA students named Commended students are: Ryan Dennehy of Liverpool; Aaron Lim of Jamesville; Sidney Perkins of Tully; and Luke Brown of Syracuse. 

Brother Joseph Jozwiak congratulates CBA seniors who were recognized in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. Front row (l-r): Luke Brown (Syracuse), Aaron Lim (Jamesville), Ryan Dennehy (Liverpool), Dalia McKenzie (Syracuse). Back row (l-r): Cole Speidel (Manlius), Alex Ojugbeli (Chittenango), Sid Perkins (Tully) and Courtney Finkbeiner (Fayetteville).