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Sioux Falls School District honors 19 National Merit finalists; Jefferson student named Presidential Scholars semifinalist
Summary
Board recognized 19 National Merit Scholarship finalists — the district's highest number in two decades — and named Jefferson High senior Landon Gross a U.S. Presidential Scholars semifinalist.
The Sioux Falls School District 49-5 Board of Education on May 1 recognized 19 students named National Merit Scholarship finalists and announced that a Jefferson High School student, Landon Gross, was named a semifinalist for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
Board member Steann (full name not specified in the transcript), presenting the board’s good-news report, said 19 finalists is the highest total the district has had “in the last two decades.” The board displayed student work and invited the finalists to identify themselves and state their postsecondary plans during the meeting. Students named included Elizabeth Spencer (Lincoln High School), Katya Sarandran (Lincoln High School), Claire Myring (Lincoln High School), Emma Trevine (Lincoln High School), Hannah Basel (Lincoln High School), Lila Sumik (Roosevelt High School), Maya Sutton (Jefferson High School), Landon Gross (Jefferson High School), Griffin Etrum (Lincoln High School), Kara Lisonbee (Roosevelt High School), Lily Kamnakar (Roosevelt High School), Carly (last name not specified, Roosevelt), Harold Mayer (Washington High School), Jacob Pagoni (Lincoln High School) and Weston Shaw (Lincoln High School). Several other finalists spoke briefly about where they plan to attend college and their intended fields of study.
The board said the National Merit Finalist designation reflects a combination of PSAT scores, essays, transcripts, letters of recommendation and extracurricular leadership. The meeting also noted that one Lincoln High School student had been named one of 621 U.S. Presidential Scholars semifinalists; the board identified Landon Gross of Jefferson High School as a semifinalist earlier in the report.
Board members congratulated the students and their families during the meeting and encouraged graduates to consider returning to Sioux Falls after college. There was no formal board action associated with the recognitions; they were part of the meeting’s good-news reports.
Sources: remarks by Steann and participating students during the Sioux Falls School District 49-5 board meeting.
