Ben Lippen Student is National Merit Semifinalist; Two are Commended Scholars

October 3, 2019

Ben Lippen School student Abby Moore is among only 16,000 students nationwide to qualify as a semifinalist in The National Merit Scholarship program, an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and college scholarships.

Two other Ben Lippen students, Micah Turner and Riley Reasons, are Commended Scholars. Moore achieved a high score on the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) taken by approximately 1.5 million juniors in 21,000 high schools in the United States.

Finalists will be determined by a competition that includes academic success, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership, employment, and honors and awards received. In addition, a semifinalist must be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Finalists compete for three types of National Merit Scholarships offered in the spring of 2020.

Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scores of the students who entered the competition.

Ben Lippen School Headmaster Tony Fajardo says Ben Lippen School is blessed to have these three students as part of the Christian school family.

“We’re proud of the students and grateful for the sacrifice that their parents have made to send them to a school that values both excellence in academics and a biblical worldview,” Fajardo said.

Ben Lippen School is a Christian, college preparatory school of over 800 students in grades
Pre-K through 12, and is a ministry of Columbia International University. To enroll visit
www.benlippen.com or call (803) 807-400.