Two St. Stephen's Students Earn National Merit Scholar Status

BRADENTON – Do you know what vampire-novelist Stephanie Meyer, United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the first African-American woman in space -- Astronaut Mae Carol Jemison and Former Chairman of the Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates all have in common? Well, they are all former National Merit Award winners, and this year two Saint Stephen’s students will compete as finalists. Out of 1.5 million applicants for the National Merit Scholarship, local students Morgan McSweeney and Daniel Kanoff won the title of Nationa Merit Scholars.

”Being in the top .01% is rather mind-blowing,“ said McSweeney. ”To be honest, I can't actually comprehend that number, so I have found it sufficient to assume an air of general contentment.“ 

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), a test which serves as an initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants each year.

Annually, a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors select top nation-wide students to receive scholarships based on what judges deemed the greatest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Being elected class treasurer for three years wasn’t sufficient for McSweeney; he also co-founded the school’s chess club and now serves as president. He was a leader of prom committee, and the school's academic team.

”Out of these, my favorites were definitely being class treasurer and the founding of chess club,“ said McSweeney. ”I especially enjoyed putting together and organizing the funding for Prom last year. I think that my experiences as class treasurer and chess club founder will help me in the future, as I have gained considerable insight into the world of money.“

McSweeney’s community involvement has been through a program called InStride, equine assisted hippotherapy where he has volunteered since the 7th Grade. Instride provides therapy for those with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, autism, and other similar conditions by allowing them to ride horses.

”Many riders have been told in the past by doctors that they should never expect to walk again due to muscle deterioration or cognitive losses,“ said McSweeney. ”Over time, the riders build up the supposedly Ôforever lost’ muscles and make huge locomotive gains. My experiences at Instride have given me a true appreciation for how blessed I am. I feel as though I have certainly made an impact there.“
 
Kanoff was the captain or the Colombian United Nations Team, president of the school’s math club and on the board of the Big Bang Science Club. The latter participates in different engineering projects. Recently the finished building a learning center for which they received a grant.

Along with a fellow classmate Jeremy Perron, Kanoff helped to organize a trip to New Orleans in order help rebuild homes destroyed by hurricane Katrina. The two worked through the Save NOLA organization and over two years constructed residences for a total of 65 hours.

”Between peer tutoring, Habitat for Humanity, and my work with the YMCA I have done 250 hours of community service,“ said Kanoff.

These scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university. NMSC finances most of these single-payment scholarships, but corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.

Both McSweeney and Kanoff are leaning toward degrees in engineering. Kanoff has been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and studying material science engineering. However, this summer he will be participating in a The MIRTHE program, center for mid-infrared technologies for health and the environment, is funded by NSF which funds its REU, research for undergraduates program.

It is mostly college students and some rising college freshman. The link for the program is below. It is a 9 week selective program for undergraduates at Princeton University where he will work in a light wave communications laboratory. The group is focused on investigating ultrafast optical techniques with application to communication networks, as well as testing and measurement systems.

”In the area of communication networks, we have been the first to demonstrate a 100 gigabit/sec packet switching node, which is one hundred times faster than any previous packet switch with comparable functionality,“ said Kanoff. ”This project has resulted in numerous publications on the subjects of the physics of nonlinear semiconductor optical switches, ultrafast optical timing synchronization and routing control, ultrafast de-multiplexing, fabrication and measurement of ultrafast time delays, high-dimensionality switching in the time domain, simulation of transmission effects with ultrashort pulses, simulation of multihop network performance, and finally, the node demonstration.“

McSweeney plans to stay closer to home.

”I have been accepted and now enrolled at UCF, in Orlando Florida,“ said McSweeney. ”I'm going to be a part of the Honors College. I am not entirely sure exactly what I am going to major in as of yet. If pressed for an answer, I will tend to answer with the fall back "engineering," which is an interest for me, however, I do not as of yet have any idea which particular sort I will pursue. I also plan to either minor or double major in business.

McSweeney and Kanoff both competed for these awards. To select scholarship winners, a committee of educators appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools. The studied the students’ academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned. They looked at scores from two standardized tests, contributions and leadership in school and community activities. The boys wrote an essay and submitted a recommendation written by a high school official.

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2009 when approximately 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the state’s seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state representational basis.

Only the 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition. From the Semifinalist group, 15,000 met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2011 program, about 7,800 Finalists will have earned the ”Merit Scholar“ title and received a total of nearly $35 million in college scholarships.

NMSC is a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 440 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and enhancing their educational opportunities.