Student Named National Merit Semifinalist

St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute is pleased to announce that Kevin Gramza ’09 of Williamsville has been named as a Semifinalist in the 2009 National Merit® Scholarship Program.

Kevin, the son of Mr. & Mrs. Mark Gramza, is one of approximately 16,000 semifinalists named this year, representing less than one percent of high school students nation wide. These students have been selected from among 1.5 million juniors in over 21,000 U.S. high schools entered in the 2009 National Merit Program by taking the 2007 PSAT/NMSQT qualifying test. Approximately ninety percent of semi-finalists go on to become finalists, and it is from this group that all Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen.

At St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, Kevin is president of the senior class, as well as a member of Big Brothers, National Honor Society, Campus Ministry, Collegiate Scholars, Eucharistic Ministry, Food Basket, and Lasallian Vision. Additionally Kevin is a participant in the University at Buffalo’s Gifted Math Program (graduating last year) and is a member of the St. Joe’s Varsity Hockey Team (named as 1st Team WNY Large School Division in 2008). He is a member of St. Mary’s in Swormville parish and volunteers for Zon’s Mission for Nicaragua. Kevin plans to study economics at college next fall.

Kevin is now in the final phase of this competition and Merit Scholarship Awards will be announced during the spring of 2009. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) was established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Program. It is a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholarships are underwritten by the corporation's own funds, and by about 500 businesses and education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute congratulates Kevin on an outstanding academic accomplishment.