STUDENTS NAMED SEMIFINALISTS
Fifteen Hinsdale Central High School students have been named semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
They are Chelsea Biala, Thomas Clark, Catherine Collins, Lucy Fischer, Jessy Huang, Kevin Jin, Alyssa Lee, Daniel Leung, Nicholas Lynch, Selena Ren, Max Schwalb, Ava Severts, Daniel Skora, Jackson Stermer and Lauren Witt.
They and the other 16,000 students who have been named semifinalists now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.
More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the 16,000 some semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.
BOSTON MUTUAL HIRES lambert
Jeff Lambert of Hinsdale has been named a senior regional sales director for Boston Mutual Life Insurance, serving the company’s Illinois-Wisconsin region.
He brings more than three decades of experience in long-term voluntary benefits and proven success in sales and broker relationship growth to his new position. He most recently served as territory sales manager for Colonial Life and regional sales coordinator and district sales coordinator at Aflac.
He has a bachelor’s degree in business/finance insurance from Illinois Wesleyan University.
TOP PRODUCER JOINS COMPASS
Julie Sutton, who has culminated over $100 million in sales and produced more than $28 million in 2018 alone, joined Compass, the real estate technology company, Sept. 6.
Sutton’s most notable sale ranked as the “2018 Highest Sale Price in Hinsdale,” as she achieved the highest list-to-sale ratio for 18 E. Eighth Street. She specializes in the Hinsdale area and the entire western suburbs.
“After very thorough consideration, our team has decided to join the Compass family,” Sutton said. “We are thrilled to partner with a company that shares our vision for where the industry is headed.”
Sutton brings an expertise in marketing, negotiation, new construction, rehabs and staging to the company, which launched in Chicagoland in November 2017.
“We are thrilled to welcome Julie and her team to the Compass family,” said Hinsdale team lead Kathy Kalnes. “Julie believes in our mission of helping everyone find their place in the world and knows with the Compass tools along with her market knowledge, it will be the best for her clients to help them achieve their goals.”
STUDENT MAGAZINE EARNS GOLD MEDAL
Solstice, the art and literary magazine produced by students and staff at Hinsdale Central High School, has earned a 2020 Gold Medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for the magazine’ 2018-19 issue, which was themed “Bang.”
In addition to the medal, the magazine was awarded All Columbia Honors for each of the three sections of the judging criteria: publication essentials, verbal content and visual content. Of a possible 1,000 points, Solstice received a total score of 980. The CSPA judges who reviewed and rated the publication said it is “a magazine to be emulated.”
“Both the writing and art are consistently high quality, polished pieces,” judges said. “Your staff and school have developed high standards of excellence. The layout is stunning and seamless, bringing together writing and art.”
Annika Agrawal and Jared Callaway, class of 2019, served as literary editors. Morgan Chisholm (’19) was the creative director and Riya Ghai (’20) was the managing design editor.
Teachers Angelique Burrell and Michael Cousineau serve as the staff sponsors for the magazine.
