The National Merit Scholarship Program lauds Angela Calvanese for her score on the Preliminary SAT.
By Gary Weckselblatt
Quakertown Community High School senior Angela Calvanese is being recognized for her exceptional academic promise by the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Angela qualified as a Commended Student for her outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2021 when she scored 1420. On a more recent SAT, she achieved 1510.
“I hold myself to a very high standard,” Angela said. “This is a universal test so I feel really good about this.”
Students entered the National Merit Scholarship Program, a nationwide competition for recognition and awards conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test offered in October 2021 and January 2022. Of the more than 1.6 million students who took the exam, the 50,000 highest scorers are being recognized. Approximately 16,000 of those high performers were recently designated National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. The next 34,000 achieve Commended Student status.
Principal Mattias van't Hoenderdaal, who handed Angela her National Merit certificate and suggested she include this trophy on her resume, said the accomplishment “is a testament to her hard work. Her schedule is loaded with varied Advanced Placement courses to help her discover her interests and develop her skill sets. This work will put Angela in a position to excel at the college level and beyond. I’m thankful for the outstanding job our teachers are doing in the classroom, and I’m proud of Angela for challenging herself and for setting a fine example for our students.”
As a freshman, Angela took AP Human Geography and described it as “my first hard class. It was an eye-opening experience.” She followed that up as a sophomore with AP Statistics, World History and Spanish. In the last two years, she has loaded up on AP courses: Calculus AB and BC, Computer Science Proposals, Computer Science A, Economics, English, Government, Literature, Physics, and Psychology.
She carries a 4.4-grade point average, and is targeting a career that involves statistics and computer scientist, perhaps as an operations research analyst. But academics have only been a portion of an outstanding high school career. Angela is a four-year varsity soccer player, co-president of Student Council, treasurer of the National Honor Society, and a member of the Best Buddies Club.
“For me, it’s important to make sure school isn’t all about academics,” she said. “I don’t miss a Friday night football game. The girls soccer team will be attending the boys soccer team’s senior night. It’s really more important that I get more out of school than just grades.”
Teacher Audrey Waddell, who had Angela for both AP Statistics and AP Calculus AB, said "Angela is a high-achieving driven student in the classroom. Her passion for mathematics, especially statistics was very evident. She is a great student, willing to help others learn, and curious about everything. She demands a great deal of herself in the classroom as well as on the athletic field. Not too far in the future, I can see her being in a leadership role early in her career. I wish her the best in the next chapter of her life story. Go be amazing, Angela!"
Gary Weckselblatt, QCSD Director of Communications, writes about the people and the programs that impact the Quakertown Community School District. He can be reached at 215-529-2028 or [email protected].