Congratulations are in order for Smithtown seniors Emily McDermott, Ryan Scheinberg and Thomas Silvester. The three high school students were named 2016 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. Emily McDermott, Thomas Silvester (Smithtown High School East) and Ryan Scheinberg (Smithtown High School West) will compete with 16,000 other semifinalists to become recipients of one of 7400 National Merit scholarships in the Spring.
The three Smithtown students were selected out of 1.5 million other applicants to enter the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program. Emily, Thomas and Ryan were three of the highest scoring PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, in the state.
Emily, Thomas and Ryan will be judged based on academic records, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, honors and awards. Scholarship winners will be selected from the finalists, in February.