Brewster High School Students Named Commended Students in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program

Brewster High School principal Nichole Horler recently announced that seniors Alex Goldberg, Akshay Gupta, and Kylie Michaels were named Commended Students in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), “about 34,000 students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.” All of the Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers out of the more than 1.6 million students who took the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

Brewster’s three Commended Students were all a little surprised and very excited to hear the news. “More than a million students took the test and the fact that three people from Brewster High School are being recognized is so cool,” said Goldberg.

Goldberg went on to note that it wasn’t his first time taking the test. “I have a need to do the best I can,” he said. “Not doing my best gnaws at me. I took the test as a sophomore and didn’t do as well as I wanted. I took it again and did a lot better.”

Gupta agreed with his classmate’s persevering, go-getter attitude. “There’s always room to improve,” he noted. “The ceiling is as high as you make it.”