SHS student named National Merit finalist
(Photo courtesy LAUREN SFEIR/SHS CEDAR POST) Sandpoint High School senior Hannah Fingel, second from bottom left, was named a finalist in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program for her outstanding academic achievement, community involvement and other accomplishments. In photo from top left: Tom Albertson, SHS principal; Andrew Fingel, Hannah’s father; Shawn Woodward, Lake Pend Oreille School District superintendent. From bottom left: Cindy Albertson, SHS counselor; Hannah Fingel; Susan Fingel, Hannah’s mother; and Jeralyn Mire, SHS counselor.
(Photo courtesy LAUREN SFEIR/SHS CEDAR POST) Sandpoint High School senior Hannah Fingel shakes the hand of SHS principal Tom Albertson after learning she was named a finalist in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program for her outstanding academic achievement, community involvement and other accomplishments.
(Photo courtesy LAUREN SFEIR/SHS CEDAR POST) Sandpoint High School senior Hannah Fingel learned Tuesday that she was named a finalist in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program for her outstanding academic achievement. Pictured with Fingel are her parents, Andrew and Susan Fingel.
(Photo courtesy LAUREN SFEIR/SHS CEDAR POST) Sandpoint High School senior Hannah Fingel stands with Lake Pend Oreille School District Shawn Woodward Tuesday after learning she was named a finalist in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program.
SANDPOINT — Hannah Fingel, a senior at Sandpoint High School, is recognized as one of the top students in the country as she was recently named a finalist in 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship program.
Between her outstanding academic achievement with a 4.38 GPA, her community involvement and other accomplishments, Fingel is deserving of the honor.
"I'm really excited," Fingel said. "I worked really hard in school, so it's really nice to see that it paid off in some, well actually, in a pretty big way for me. It's just cool to be recognized for that."
Fingel was surprised by her parents and SHS staff Tuesday morning after she was called in to the counselor's office by Jeralyn Mire, supposedly about letting schools know Fingel had switched her schedule. While in the counseling office, Fingel set Mire up perfectly by asking if the school had heard from the National Merit program yet. Mire told her, "Let's go ask Mr. Albertson," and when they walked into the conference room, her parents were already waiting for her. Also in attendance were SHS principal Tom Albertson, SHS counselor Cindy Albertson and district superintendent Shawn Woodward.
About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the 2015 PSAT, the qualifying test for the program. The top 1 percent, about 16,000 students nationwide, are chosen as semi-finalists and notified in the fall of their senior year. Fingel said she recently found out from Tom Albertson that chosen finalists are in the top one-half percent — about 15,000 — of students nationwide.
To become a finalist, semi-finalists and their high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, with information about the semi-finalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. Semi-finalists are required to have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying PSAT test.
Mire said not only is Fingel "super, super smart, she has a good heart," which correlates with Fingel's plans for her future college degree.
Fingel has applied to several colleges and is being recruited and offered scholarships by colleges across the country, but her first choice of a school is Harvard University. She said she will not hear from Harvard until March 30, but she has been accepted into Biola University in Southern California.
In college she plans to major in civil and environmental engineering. Fingel said she hopes to work with alternative energy, and also she wants to use civil engineering in developing countries.
"Helping with new water systems or build roads or bridges, and just kind of using that to help people in need," Fingel said.
For the National Merit Scholarship, it is up to the school to offer the student a scholarship, so every school offers different amounts, if anything. University of Idaho, for example, has historically given National Merit students full-ride scholarships. Fingel said Biola is not offering her anything for the National Merit, but she did get a good scholarship based on her SAT score and her grades. Just being a National Merit finalist, though, gives her an edge when applying to high profile universities like Harvard.
"It still opens doors for sure," Fingel said.
Fingel works at Eve’s Leaves and plans to stay in Sandpoint and work through the summer before heading off to college. Last summer she worked as an intern at the Festival at Sandpoint and said she hopes to do it again. She helped with counting money from vendors and worked the box office and said "it was a lot of fun; it was a good job."
As far as college, she said leaving the area where she grew up has not really sunk in yet, but will probably affect her more when she decides which college she will attend. But, she said, she is getting nervous about choosing a college.
"We are excited for her," said Fingel's mom, Susan, adding that she is proud of her daughter's accomplishments. "Whatever (college) she chooses we think she will do well and succeed, and we are glad that she is adventurous and wants to see new areas."