School Briefs

Our Lady of Mercy Academy is proud to announce the following Distinguished Scholars as chosen by the State of New Jersey Department of High Education:

— Marika Agnello, daughter of Luigi and Maria Agnello of Blackwood;

— Chelsea Consalo, daughter of Skip and Denise Consalo of Vineland; and

— Jamie Thai, daughter of Loi & Yen Thai of Atlantic City.

These students were selected as Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars based on the following criteria: class rank of one, two, or three in their graduating class and rank within the top 10 percent of the graduating class; and class rank within the top 10 percent of the graduating class at the end of their junior year with combined critical reading and math SAT scores of 1260 or higher.

The Distinguished Scholar award of up to $1,000 is available annually without regard to financial need.

Brigid K. Miller of Egg Harbor Township, a senior at Holy Spirit High School, Absecon, won an essay contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Brigid’s essay will compete with other contest winners in the state for a chance to represent the VFW Department of New Jersey in the national contest.

The VFW “Voice of Democracy” scholarship program was created in 1947. The theme for this year’s contest was “Does America Still Have Heroes?” Brigid received a $200 prize from VFW Post 9462.

Christina Krawiec, a 2009 graduate of Sacred Heart High School, Vineland, has earned an AP Scholar Award in recognition of her exceptional achievement on AP Exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program provides students with the opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

Christina qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. Christina is currently enrolled at Rutgers University and majors in astrophysics.