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Teacher salaries major piece of school budget
Schools meet AYP, but district does not
School briefs
School Directory
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Town has three National Merit Semifinalists |
Students qualify for the honor and hope to each
score a $2,500 scholarship |
By Laurent
Bonczijk, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Laurent at
lbonczijk@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Three students from Newberg are
among the roughly 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists. They are only
a 500-word essay away from possibly qualifying as National Merit
Scholars.
Matthew Jones, 17, of Veritas Christian School and Elizabeth
Oliver, 17, and Sarah Staples, 17, of Newberg High School all had
similar reactions to their selection: it’s not that big of a deal.
All three are seniors, of course, as their selection is partly the
result of the PSAT tests that students take their junior year.
Jones was just happy he’d gotten farther along than his older
brother, something to do about bragging rights. “I really don’t
think that it’s that huge of a deal,” he said. He said he didn’t
really study for the test because it’s logic based. All one needs to
do to is to “apply common sense to topics,” he said. Oliver and
Staples didn’t engage in any particular preparation for the test
either.
 Jones’ main drive
is to continue trying to please his parents. The scholarship money
would be nice, too, because even though his parents will pay his
tuition he thinks he should make every effort to help them out.
The essay proves to be the tricky part of the contest. The theme of
the essay is “What makes you different?”
“I think it’s a silly question,” Jones said. The length is another
hurdle, “it was hard for me because I usually write really long
papers,” he said.
“I hate writing about myself,” Oliver said of the subject. Staples
said that the teacher editing her piece found her “too humble.” She
said school essays are poor preparation for the National Merit test
as they don’t require students write about themselves.
“They’re all gonna be the same,” he said, adding that young writers
will use common arbitrary reasons to set themselves apart. His plan?
To write about the subject and be “honest and sincere about it.”
Jones expects to major in international relations at Wheaton
College in Illinois. Oliver would like to attend the University of
Oregon and major in music of science. Staples plans to attend George
Fox University, because both her parents attended the school and she
would like to major in writing and literature.
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 90
percent of the semifinalists will become National Merit finalists
and about 50 percent of those will become National Merit Scholars,
meaning they will receive scholarships. |
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From
Sept. 19, 2007,
Newberg Graphic
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