Four Heights students are National Merit Scholars

Heights High's National Merit Scholars (from left): Cody Radivoyevitch, Dorrie Pharis, William van den Bogert and Charles Adams.

The National Merit Scholarship (NMS) Corporation has named Heights High seniors Charles Adams, Dorothy Pharis, Cody Radivoyevitch and William van den Bogert National Merit Scholars.

They were among the more than 1.6 million students who entered the NMS competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in the fall of their junior year.

Adams, a merit scholar semifinalist, has the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and qualify for National Merit scholarships. He is among 16,000 semifinalists in the U.S., representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Pharis, Radivoyevitch and van den Bogert were named commended scholars, placing among the top 5 percent of students who took the PSAT. About 34,000 commended students are recognized nationwide for their exceptional academic promise.

Adams participates in the two-year Career and Technical Education Computer Networking Technology Program, an affiliate of the Cisco Networking Training Academy. He is working to earn two Cisco Systems certifications that will qualify him to control, manage and secure computer networks.

He is also taking AP Physics and is a member of the varsity soccer, hockey and baseball teams. He has not yet decided what he will study in college.

Pharis takes all of her classes at Cleveland State University (CSU) through Ohio’s College Credit Plus, and receives both high school and college credit. She is part of a CSU research team that is studying clouds to help make weather predictions more accurate.

A volunteer violin tutor at Roxboro Middle School, Pharis is also a captain of the Science Olympiad team. After she graduates in May, Pharis expects to take nearly 70 college credit hours with her to The Ohio State University, where she plans to major in math and physics.

Radivoyevitch takes some of his classes at John Carroll University and plays with Heights High’s Symphonic Winds, marching band, and brass quartet ensemble. He has been on the swim team, and is a member of the Science Olympiad team and an officer of Tri-M, the music honor society.

He plans to attend college and major in one of the engineering design fields.

Van den Bogert takes two classes at CSU and five courses at Heights High. He is an accomplished musician who earned a senior solo performance this year on piano, and plays trumpet in the jazz ensemble Swing State. He plans to study engineering at the college level.

“Music is important to my emotional side, but I hope to make a difference in the world with a background in engineering,” said van den Bogert.