Five Walled Lake students among academic elite

Five students from the Walled Lake Consolidated School District have qualified as National Merit Scholar or National Achievement Scholar semi-finalists.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships which is entered by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) and by meeting the program participation requirements.

Over 1.5 million students take the test each year with around 16,000 achieving semi-finalist status.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is an academic competition established in 1964 to provide recognition for outstanding black American high school students, who enter both the National Achievement and National Merit Program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT.

Of the more than 160,000 students who enter the program, about 1,600 are named semi-finalists.

Jacob Rees from Walled Lake Northern High School is a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist and is applying to the engineering schools at Purdue, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas. He is a member of National Honor Society (NHS), has earned varsity letters in track and marching band, and earned the bronze award on the National Spanish Exam.

Kevin Roback is a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist from Walled Lake Western High School who serves as the section leader for cellos in the school’s orchestra program and has been a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Youth Symphony for three years. He also volunteers with SMILES, a youth orchestra group which plays for senior citizens. He hopes to pursue a career in geology.

Also from Western is Tiffany Bryant, a National Achievement Scholar semi-finalist who hopes to study pre-veterinary medicine at Michigan State University. She plays the alto saxophone, is a French Club officer, a member of NHS, and volunteers at Loon Lake Elementary School.

There are two National Achievement semi-finalists from Walled Lake Central High School — Jocelyn Hanson and Candyce Jessamy.

Hanson is looking to attend the University of Michigan, Boston University, or the University of Chicago to study pre-med and is involved in Spanish Club, NHS, and Walled Lake Central Environmentalist Club.

Meanwhile, Jessamy hopes to attend Michigan or Chicago to study neuroscience. She is a member of the varsity volleyball team and the track and field team, is in NHS, and volunteers in Detroit’s Cass Corridor.