Jesuit’s 27 National Merit Semifinalists

The National Merit Semifinalists in Jesuit’s Class of 2019 are:

Bottom row (from left): James Bragg, Nicholas Cibilich, Neehar Desai, Jason Dominique, Matthew Dowling, Josef Ernst, Bradley Fugetta,

Second row: Theodore Goldenberg, Jack Grady, Scott Hawkins, Alexander Hentze, Owen Hite, Peter James,

Third row: Charles Korndorffer, Matthew LaCour, Stephen Redfearn, Cole Radetich, Jonathan Sanders, 

Fourth row: Jacob Schenck, William Schott, Sean Svihla, Evan Tizzard,

Fifth row: Christopher Vuong, Aidan Walker, Donald Webster, Dexter Webster, and Jack Zvonek.

The 27 National Merit Scholars in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program represented approximately 12% of the 227 Louisiana high school honorees. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to that state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. Nationwide, nearly 1.6 million students entered the competition, and the field was narrowed to only 16,000 semifinalists. Considering semifinalists alone, this number represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. From the elite group of semifinalists, 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships worth over $30 million.

This year’s semifinalists from Jesuit posted scores ranging from 217 to 226 on the PSAT/NMSQT^®, which is used as the initial screen in the annual competition underwritten by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The faculty, administration, and staff of Jesuit High School congratulate these 27 National Merit Semifinalists for their significant academic achievement.