by Dennis Dalman
Sartell resident Evan Danielson, a senior at St. John’s Prep School, has achieved semi-finalist status in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
The son of Michele and Nathan Danielson of Sartell, Evan is one of two St. John’s Prep students named semi-finalists. The other is Patrick Duffy, a Cold Spring resident.
Danielson and Duffy are two of 16,000 students nationwide who now have a chance to compete for scholarships worth a total of $33 million. The two students are among the very top scorers in Minnesota and the United States who took Merit Scholarship qualifying tests.
Besides excelling in academics, Danielson is a high achiever in all respects. He is captain of the St. John’s Prep soccer team and also a member of the track and basketball teams. In addition, he is a member of the National Honor Society and a peer tutor with the Writing Center at the school.
In his hometown of Sartell, Danielson is an altar server for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. He has two siblings: Caiden and Elise. Danielson said he plans to pursue an engineering or computer-science major in college.
Patrick Duffy is the son of Megan and Brendon Duffy of Cold Spring. He has two sisters, Clare and Margaret.
Duffy is student council president and a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta and the state Envirothon team. He plays percussion in the St. John’s Prep Band and orchestra and is also a piano player who has earned state honors for his musical excellence.
Besides his active school life, Duffy is a volunteer at St. Cloud Hospital and a peer ministry leader at St. Boniface Catholic Church. Duffy said he plans to study economics, mathematics and environmental science when he enters college.
The next steps toward becoming a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program is for Danielson and Duffy to submit detailed information about their academic records, activities they’re involved in with school and their hometowns, leadership abilities, honors and awards. Finalists will be announced this coming February.
The National Merit Scholarship Program, which began in 1955, is an academic competition for high-school students nationwide who take several qualifying tests. It is a rare honor even to reach the semi-finalist level because about 1.5 million high-school students take those qualifying tests each year, and only 16,000 of them make the list of semi-finalists.
Founded in 1857, St. John’s Prep School in Collegeville is a Catholic/Benedictine private day-and-board school located on the campus of St. John’s University. The prep school welcomes people of all faiths for grades 6-12. It has a nationally recognized college-preparatory curriculum.
To learn more about the school, go online to sjprep.net.
