Courtesy of Ben Polonowski
Three students at Middle Park High School have been named
semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.
Gabe Loberg, Lela Myers and Jack Orear were some of the
highest-scoring students on the preliminary SAT, making them semi-finalists in this
national competition.
Three students in the class of 91 seniors representing the
school is a “statistical anomaly,” according to Ben Polonowski, Middle Park
High School counselor.
Only 241 students in the state of Colorado were named
semi-finalists and 16,000 in the entire country, which represents less than one
percent of high school seniors.
“This reflects the hard work of the students at Middle Park,
but also the work of the community they are a part of,” Polonowski said.
All three students are deeply involved in extracurricular
activities.
Gabe Loberg plans to go to a small college to play football.
He wants to study exercise science to pursue a career in physical therapy.
Lela Myers has lived in Grand County her entire life and
writes fiction as a hobby. She has played soccer since kindergarten and has
been in every theater production Middle Park has put on. She’s unsure about her
college plans.
Jack Orear is captain of the soccer team and participates in
the school’s ski racing team. He’s not yet sure about his future college plans
either, except that he wants to go to college.
Polonowski said being a semi-finalist in this competition
puts these three students near the top with academic strength. Being even a
semi-finalist in the competition reflects future success.
“They’re great students,” Polonowski said. “They’re heavily
involved in the school community.”
About 15,000 of the semi-finalists will advance to finalist
level, which the students will find out about in February. These finalists will
have an opportunity to be awarded various scholarships.