Avon High School Boasts 5 National Merit Semifinalists

Avon High School is pleased to announce that five seniors have been named 2024 National Merit Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (names and bios below). There are approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, out of 1.3 million juniors from across 21,000 high schools nationwide, in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a not-for-profit organization that awards scholarships to high school seniors annually. Semifinalists are chosen based on preliminary SAT scores. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, 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 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. Finalist winners will be announced in February.

“What an impressive group of students,” said Kristina Buller, Avon High School principal. “Having five semifinalists is rather exceptional and we could not be more excited for them and their upcoming opportunities. In the spring we learned we had 17 students in the running and the remaining Avon Eagles will likely receive Commended status from the National Merit Scholarship Program, an accomplishment in its own.”

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, go to nationalmerit.org.

Congratulations Daniel Jurca, Jay Kneiss, Cameron Lam, Jackson Ourednik, and Anika Pundir.

Daniel Jurca, 17

Parents: Valentin and Heather Jurca • High school activities: Soccer, Pickleball Club • Hobbies: Soccer, photography • Potential college(s): Case Western Reserve University, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University • Possible major(s): Pre-med, biology

Jay Kneiss, 18

Parents: John and Karen Kneiss • High school activities: Avon Electric Orchestra, Jazz band, Pickleball Club, Tennis • Hobbies: Playing tennis, writing music and listening to music • Potential college(s): Brown University, University of Rochester, Stanford University • Possible major(s): Physics, environmental science • Jay also scored a perfect 36 on the ACT last year

Cameron Lam, 16

Parents: Simon and Lois Lam • High school activities: Esports Club, Avon Electric Orchestra (president), Pickleball Club, Orchestra • Hobbies: Playing the violin • Potential college(s): Northwestern University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Rochester • Possible major(s): Math • Cameron also scored a perfect 36 on the ACT last year

Jackson Ourednik, 17

Parents: Mark and Liz Ourednik • High school activities: Esports Club (president), Cross Country, Pickleball Club • Hobbies: Making music • Potential college(s): Michigan State University, Princeton University, University of California – Davis • Possible major(s): Civil engineering, math

Anika Pundir, 17

Parents: Rahul Pundir and Arpita Singh • High school activities: Avon Electric Orchestra, Student Council, Future Scholars of Medicine Club • Hobbies: Singing, playing the piano • Potential college(s): University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Northwestern University • Possible majors(s): Neuroscience, biology