Sacred Heart Academy senior Tess Cersonsky has received notification from the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program that she has been named a semifinalist in the competition.
Miss Cersonsky, of Oxford, is the daughter of Mrs. Nancy Cersonsky and the late Dr. Jeffery Cersonsky.
About 1.5 million juniors in nearly 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 PSAT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. These academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 National Merit Scholarship awards, worth $35 million, that will be offered next spring.
Named a Sr. Antonine Signorelli, ASCJ Scholar for her outstanding entrance exam scores and for demonstrating exceptional academic potential, Tess Cersonsky has earned highest honors since attending Sacred Heart.
She is a member of the National Honor, French National Honor, Science National Honor, as well as the National Math Honor Society – Mu Alpha Theta.
Actively involved in the school’s musicals, she has earned principal cast parts in both The Wiz and this year will be featured as Martha Washington in White Christmas. A member of Honors Chamber Choir, she has served as manager for two years and planned the Academy’s 2012 French Choir Trip.
This summer, she was selected as a Yale Discovery to Cure intern working in the reproductive immunology lab on her project – Developing an in vitro model for implantation. Awards include: The Yale Book Award, Princeton Book Award, Certificate d’Honour in the National French Contest, Second Honors in the CT State Scienc Fair and Second Place in the Sacred Heart Science Fair.
Outside of school, Tess enjoys debating and talking politics as well as singing, acting, reading, cooking, French, and helping her mom, a teacher, with her elementary school students.
“I am planning to major in biomedical engineering and a minor in French as an undergrad and hopefully go to medical school down the road. My Dad was a pediatrician and I am interested in pediatric surgery or research as my experience in the Yale lab this summer was so fascinating,” offers Tess.
Sacred Heart Academy, an independent Catholic college preparatory school for young women in grades 9 – 12, was founded in 1946 by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Academy successfully prepares young women for learning, service and achievement in a global society. There are currently 500 students enrolled from New Haven, Fairfield, Middlesex, Hartford and New London.
