During the Fall Academic Awards, Head of Fuqua Upper School Alex Huggard announced that Paavan Bonagiri, Max Gebauer and Morgan Lindsey have been named Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. A letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, was presented to these scholastically talented seniors.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2018 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2018 competition by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a representative for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advance of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”