IN Cranberry Fall 2019 | Page 40

Seneca Valley SCHOOL DISTRICT news NSPRA GIVES NOD TO SV PUBLICATIONS S Seneca Valley National Merit Semifinalists (l to r): Nishant Jayachandran, Olivia Schultheis and Sean Scott. 3 SV SENIORS NAMED SEMIFINALISTS IN 2020 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM O fficials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently announced Seneca Valley Seniors Nishant Jayachandran, Olivia Schultheis and Sean Scott, as Semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. As Semifinalists, these three seniors will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring. Over 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title. About 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. For more information on National Merit Scholarship Program, visit nationalmerit.org. 38 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE ❘ icmags.com eneca Valley recently earned three awards in the National School Public Relations Association’s (NSPRA) 2019 Publications and Digital Media Contest. Seneca Valley School District’s Communications Department received an Award of Excellence for the Annual Report, The Future Starts Here, an Honorable Mention for the Raider Pride E-Newsletter and an Honorable Mention for the special purpose web page dedicated to the story of Ryan Gloyer Middle School. There were 1,148 entries in this year’s contest, with 667 entries receiving recognition. NSPRA’s Publications and Digital Media Awards recognize outstanding education publications and marketing/ informational materials (print and electronic), video/TV/radio programs, social media and websites. Linda Andreassi, director of communications and Katie Huttinger, media support specialist, coordinate and develop publications for the Seneca Valley School District.