FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Beth Griffin, Director of Public Relations, 288-2309, x324

Sacred Heart Academy senior Maria Papademetris ’20 has received notification from the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program that she has been named a semifinalistin the competition. The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test PSAT, 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.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

These academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarship awards, worth $33 million that will be offered next spring.

As an incoming freshman, Maria was selected as a Sr. Antonine Signorelli Scholar for her outstanding entrance exam score and for demonstrating outstanding academic potential. As a junior, she served as junior captain of Math League and as a Classics Club consul, and wasnamed a 2019 Governor’s Scholar! Based on her essay, her PSAT score, and her rank in the top five percent of her class, Maria was chosen as one of only thirty Governor’s Scholars in the state from an entry pool of the top juniors in Connecticut’s high schools. The same year, she participated in the 2019 M3 MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge, in which her team placed in the top twenty percent nationwide.

Maria is an active member of the National Honor Society and the Latin, Mathematics, and Science National Honor Societies. She sings alto in our Madrigal Choir and also pursues her interest in singing outside of school, chanting and singing in her parish choir.

Maria is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Xenophon Papademetris (Susan).

Founded in 1946 by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacred Heart successfully prepares young women in grades 9 – 12 for learning, service, and achievement in a global society. Sacred Heart Academy welcomes 500 students from more than 80 schools and 60 towns in Connecticut and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Visit www.sacredhearthamden.orgto learn more.