Honoring and congratulating Philadelphia's 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition Program Semifinalists. Thirty-eight students from nine of Philadelphia's schools were named as Semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition Program, demonstrating a strong commitment to academic excellence.

WHEREAS, Nationwide, over 1.5 million high school juniors entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC) Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Program Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screening for program participants that represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state; and

WHEREAS, G.W. Carver High School of Engineering and Science student Sebastian Kennedy was named as a 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalist; and

WHEREAS, Central High School students Jonah Baer, Noreen Bendaoud, Tiberio Caricchio, Ali Shabazz, Prianon Shahid, and Nathaniel Zheng were named as 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalists; and

WHEREAS, Friends Select School students Sophia Cucinotta and Anne Rupertus were selected as 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalists; and

WHEREAS, Germantown Friends School students Molly Connolly-Ungar, Asaf Lebovic, Dylan Marchlinski, Henry Perine, and Rich Soong were chosen as 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalists; and

WHEREAS, Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School students Tanay Bennur, Susanna Collins, Willem Cousineau, Lucy Duckworth, Ezra Dugosh, Aden Gonzales, Jack Hourigan, Miles Meola, Lola Milder, Owen Moss, Miranda Pan, Sofia Pejcic, Robert Petrella, Ethan Soloway, Alice Stricker, Virginia Yu, Shirley Zhang, and Ana Zhou were named as 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalists; and

WHEREAS, William Penn Charter School students Liam La Barge, Daniel Will, and Sydney Wood were selected as 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalists; and

WHEREAS, Archbishop Ryan High School student Gina Pellizzeri was chosen as a 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalist; and

WHEREAS, Science Leadership Academy student Nicco Carleton was named as a 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalist; and

WHEREAS, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy student Lizhou Wang was selected as a 2021 NMSC Program Semifinalist; and

WHEREAS, These National Merit Scholarship Competition Program Semifinalists demonstrate an inspiring commitment to academic achievement throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to highlight the educational distinctions of Philadelphia’s schools; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby congratulate and honor Philadelphia’s 2021 National Merit Scholarship Competition Program Semifinalists.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy be presented to each of the Semifinalist’s schools further evidencing the sincere admiration and respect of this legislative body.

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