14 seniors named National Merit semifinalists

By CANDY BROOKS

ThisWeek Staff Writer

Published: October 2, 2008
Edition: Worthington
Section: News
Page: 01A



Fourteen Worthington schools students have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. The semifinalists are Vivian Chang, Joy Jing, Amy Jones, Ye-Seong Kim, Harika Rayala, and Kevin Zhu from Worthington Kilbourne and Melisse Aspery, Suyang Li, Henry Liu, Eleftheria Matsa, Olivia Noble, Courtney Reeder, Lisa Taxier, and Ling-Shun Wong from Thomas Worthington.

Only the much larger Dublin City Schools, with 21 semifinalists, and Upper Arlington High School, with 18, had more semifinalists among Franklin County school districts this year.

Gahanna had 12, Westerville eight, Bexley and Grandview Heights four each, and Hilliard two.

Approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named nationwide from more than 1.5-million students entered in the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.

About 15,000 semifinalists will earn finalist standing and about half of the finalists will be selected as winners of merit scholarships in the spring.

Vivian Chang, daughter of Meng-Chien Kuo and Chung-Kuo Chang, attended Bluffsview Elementary School and Perry Middle School.

At Kilbourne, she is involved in Science Olympiad, In-the-Know, and Math Club. She is also a member of Key Club and teaches Chinese yo-yo.

She hopes to attend Harvard, MIT, Duke, or Ohio State University and major in science or a math-related subject to prepare for a career involving science or languages.

Joy Jing is the daughter of Ing-Miin Hsu and attended Bluffsview Elementary School and Perry Middle School.

She is a member of the marching band and the Columbus Symphonic Youth Orchestra and is involved in theater and ice skating. She is a Chinese Diabolo teacher.

Her future plans are undecided.

Amy Jones is the daughter of Janice Jones and David Jones. She attended Liberty Elementary School and McCord Middle School.

She received perfect scores on the National Latin exam in 2007 and 2008 and is a member of the French Club. She also volunteers at the Cozy Cat Cottage.

She would like to study foreign languages at OSU, Miami University, Indiana University Bloomington, or Haverford College. She would like to become an interpreter, translator or professor.

Ye-Seong Kim is the son of Jin-Hwa Kim and Mikyeong Kim. He attended Riverside Elementary in Dublin and McCord Middle School.

He plays on the tennis team and in the orchestra at Kilbourne. In the community, he volunteers at Riverside Methodist Hospital, is on his church's praise team and teaches vacation Bible school.

He plans to attend college and major in economics, bioengineering, biology or chemistry. He would like to become a surgeon.

Harika Rayala is the daughter of Chandra Rayala and Surya Rayala and attended elementary and middle school in the state of Delaware.

She is president and founder of STRIDE, Students to Rid Dementia in Elderly. She is a member of the Science Olympiad team and volunteers in the neuro/rehab department at Children's Hospital.

She plans to major in neuroscience in college, then attend medical school to become a neurosurgeon.

Kevin Zhu is the son of Michael Zhu and Dina Chuang-Zhu. He attended Granby Elementary School and Perry Middle School.

He plays in the school orchestra and is on the In-The-Know team and in the Math Club. In the community, he volunteers at Riverside Methodist Hospital and at the Northwest Library.

He is undecided about where he would like to attend college, but plans to major in mathematics/computer science.

Melisse Aspery is the daughter of Steve and Lisa Aspery. She attended Wilson Hill Elementary School and Kilbourne Middle School.

At Thomas, she is captain of the cross country and the swimming teams and is an honor thespian in the theater program.

She hopes to attend the University of Dayton, Case Western Reserve University or the University of Cincinnati to study engineering.

Henry Liu is the son of Shouqian Liu and Xiaolan Zhang. He attended Slate Hill Elementary School and Worthingway Middle School.

He would like to attend MIT and become an animator.

Eleftheria Matsa is the daughter of Aristotle Matsa. She attended Colonial Hills Elementary School and Kilbourne Middle School.

She is involved in marching band, Ohio Math League, Chess Club, In-The-Know, Mindsponge, and has bronze and silver keys.

She would like to attend Harvard, OSU, Yale or Northeastern Ohio College of Medicine and become a family care physician.

Olivia Noble is the daughter of Mary Ann Martello and Chris Noble. She attended Evening Street Elementary School and Kilbourne Middle School.

She is captain of the water polo team and is involved in the theater program. She is also president of Character in Action, an anti-bullying organization for elementary school students.

She hopes to attend Williams, Bowdoin or Middlebury College and is undecided on a major.

Courtney Reeder is the daughter of Lori and Paul Reeder and attended Evening Street Elementary School and Kilbourne Middle School.

She is captain of the field hockey team. In 2007, she was named best defense and won the hustle award on the state championship team. She is also student council service committee chairperson.

She went on a service trip to and HIV/AIDS orphanage in Honduras; is a youth elder at the Worthington Presbyterian Church; and attended Buckeye Girls State in 2008.

She would like to attend Vanderbilt, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or Boston College to major in elementary education.

Lisa Taxier is the daughter of Michael and Barbara Taxier. She attended Evening Street Elementary School and Kilbourne Middle School.

She is senior class treasurer, is an honor thespian in the theater program, on the In-The-Know team, and is president of the orchestra.

She also volunteers for the Red Cross and is a Relay for Life team leader.

She hopes to attend Carleton College to major in biology and minor in music.

Esther Wong is the daughter of Jimmy Wong and Ya-Hui Lin. She attended Worthington Park Elementary School and Worthingway Middle School.

She is involved with theater, Ohio Math League, choir and Science Olympiad.

In the community, she is a homework help center tutor and a youth group leader.

She would like to attend MIT, OSU or Carnegie Mellon and study chemical engineering, computer engineering or music composition/theory.


Illustration: Photo

Photos by David Rea/ThisWeek (Above) Worthington Kilbourne High School students who are National Merit Semifinalists include, front row from left, Harika Rayala, Kevin Zhu and Joy Jing. Back row from left, Amy Jones, Ye-Seong Kim and Vivian Chang. (At right) Thomas Worthington High School students who are National Merit Semifinalists are, right row from front to back, Eleftheria Matsa, Esther Wong and Courtney Reeder. Left row from front to back, Melisse Aspery, Olivia Noble, Henry Liu and Lisa Taxier. Not pictured is Suyang Li.



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