Three Shorewood seniors are National Merit semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced that three Shorewood High School seniors have been selected as 2021 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.

Ellie Chew

Ellie Chew, Robert Olomon and Samuel Perkowski were selected for the prestigious recognition.

Of the over 1.5 million students who entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors, only 16,000 become semifinalists.

The semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Chew, Olomon and Perkowski now have the opportunity to compete for Merit Scholarship awards by qualifying as a National Merit Finalist in February 2021. About 7,600 Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million will be awarded in this spring.

Robert Olomon

In addition to excelling in the classroom, all three students are active in extracurricular clubs and activities. 

Chew is a member of the Shorewood Math Team and is part of the video production team for the school’s weekly video announcement program NEST. 

Olomon is the computer-aided design captain of the Scotbots robotics team, and a member of Math Team and Students Against Gun Violence. 

Perkowski is captain of the tennis team, plays trumpet in the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band and is a member of the golf team and Math Team.

While all three have enjoyed their time at Shorewood and credits its staff for supporting their academic success, they are also very excited to continue their learning in college next year. 

Each are in the college application process, but know what they are interested in studying.

Samuel Perkowski

Chew is most interested in foreign language, physics, psychology and creative writing. She looks forward to exploring outside of Washington, studying abroad and combining those subjects into something that can better the world and those around her.

Olomon plans to study mechanical engineering and become an engineer. He enjoys mechanical design and wants to work on new and interesting challenges.

Perkowski intends to major in biochemistry. He plans to pursue advanced degrees and work in a lab developing pharmaceuticals or pursuing independent research.