Kehl named National Merit semifinalist

Senior Stephanie Kehl is among the 16,000 students nationwide to be named semifinalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program. Thus, these students have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 scholarship awards, worth more than $36 million, that will be offered this spring.

“Stephanie is an outstanding member of the Darlington Community, and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments,” said Sam Moss (’63), Darlington’s dean of college guidance. “It is quite an honor to earn semifinalist status in the National Merit Program, and we wish Stephanie the best of luck as she competes for a scholarship award this spring.”

Kehl has taken nine Honors and 10 AP courses at Darlington. She is a member of National Honor Society, French Club and the staff of The Inkslinger literary magazine. She also plays clarinet and is a peer tutor for Middle School students. Last year, Kehl received the E.L. Wright Award for French 4 Honors. She is the daughter of Dr. Melissa and Jeff Kehl of Rome.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of Merit Scholar. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout the high school years, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier qualifying test performance. The student must also submit a self-descriptive essay and information about participation and leadership in school and community activities.