Farmington Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced that six Farmington High School seniors, Patrick Demkowicz, Dustin Despres, Jared Gruneiro, Jeewoong Oh, Rhea Sindvani and Amrita Singh, have qualified as semifinalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship program.  Identified as a result of their outstanding performance on the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test, they will now move on in the competition to be considered as finalists.

Patrick Demkowicz has taken the highest levels in courses offered at Farmington in Science, Math, English and History.  Patrick has volunteered at the UConn Health Center, Children’s Medical Center and Bristol Hospital to pursue his passion of studying medicine.  Patrick is a tremendous asset to the Farmington community through his participation in the robotics team for three years, and this year he was elected as the captain.  Patrick humbly states that he can’t wait to make a positive impact at college through volunteering for outreach programs as he is truly fulfilled by helping others. 

Dustin Despres has successfully pursued a very strong college preparatory program of study at FHS.  He has maintained a solid A grade point average and continues to make strides in his academic endeavors.  Dustin has a passion to pursue Aerospace Engineering.  He has taken all of the Project Lead the Way courses that Farmington offers that are engineering based.  Dustin is taking a capstone engineering course in which he will work as part of a team to research, design and construct solutions to open-ended engineering problems. Dustin has dedicated four years to the Model United Nations Club.

Jared Gruneiro has earned first honors every semester and has taken the most demanding courses offered at FHS.  He has completed the Project Lead the Way engineering curriculum and plans to pursue a degree in either Engineering, Computer Science, or Math.  Jared has also participated in Orchestra every year.  He is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and Math Honor Society, and has been named an AP Scholar with Honors.  He is co-president of the Gay Straight Alliance, providing compassion and friendship to students who may not easily be accepted and speaking up for those who are afraid to speak.  Jared works at the Farmington Library and has volunteered with Rebuild Hartford and other community clean up days. 

Jeewoong Oh is a thoughtful, diligent and kind student.  An intrinsic learner, Jeewoong thrives under challenging academic conditions and enjoys working on research projects.  An AP Scholar with Honors, Jeewoong has been successful in some of the most challenging courses that FHS has to offer.  He is a Capstone Scholar, completing the Cambridge Pre-University program in his sophomore and junior years.  He hopes to continue with his love of research at the college level.  

Rhea Sindvani has taken an extremely demanding course load at FHS including 12 AP courses, and she has earned the designation of AP Scholar with Distinction. Last year, she was named a CT Governor’s Scholar, and she received the Yale Book Award.  She is a member of Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS), Science Olympiad (where she earned Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals), and Model UN (which she serves as Treasurer).  She volunteers at Farmington Library and Village Gates.  Rhea also participated in the UConn Health Center Cutting Edge Internship. 

Amrita Singh has taken 12 AP courses at FHS and has been recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction. Amrita founded the Philosophy Club and is a member of the Economics Club.  She is the Concertmaster of the FHS Orchestra and the CT Northern Regional Orchestra, is a member of the first violin sections of CT All-State and CT Youth Symphonies, and was Concertmaster and a soloist at Carnegie Hall with the Opus 89 orchestra.  She was a counselor in the Farmington Suzuki Summer Strings Camp, founded FHS Quartet Players, and participated in the Castleman Quartet Program as violinist.  Last year, she received the Brown Book Award

Eight FHS students have been named Commended Students in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program.  They are Matthew Chisholm, Christopher DeBiase, Bradley Druzinsky, Megan Lee, Sydney Munson, Alana Silberstein, Jordan Tragash, and Evan Wlodkowski.  Dr. Silva presented each a Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 

More than 1.5 million students took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last October and of those, 34,000 have been named commended students throughout the nation and are being honored for their exceptional academic promise. 

Our congratulations to these students who have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their high performance in the extremely competitive National Merit Program.