The Henry County Public Schools Board of Education recently recognized Sofia Sileo — a Henry County High School student who attended iLead Academy before admittance into the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science located on the campus of Western Kentucky University after her sophomore year.
Sileo, now a senior, continues to distinguish herself at the Gatton Academy. In September, Sileo was named a semifinalist in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.
More than 1.3 million juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as the initial screening of program entrants. From this list comes the nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one-percent of U.S. high school seniors, and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.
“It is exciting to have so many students recognized for outstanding academic performance. This is a testament to the preparation and support they received from their sending schools,” stated Dr. Lynette Breedlove, Director of The Gatton Academy.
To become a finalist, a semifinalist and their school must submit a detailed scholarship application, providing information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout their high school career, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn ACT® and SAT® scores that confirm the semifinalist’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Finalists will be announced in February, and all National Merit Scholarship winners for 2024 are selected from this group. Winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July 2024. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.
And in December, Sileo was one of only 17 students from The Gatton Academy who received top honors for their presentations at the annual Kentucky Academy of Science (KAS) Student Competition. Of those, six were selected as delegates for the 2024 American Junior Academy of Science (AJAS) conference held in Denver, Colorado in February.
Sileo was chosen as one of the six delegates for her presentation, “Characterization of a Bacteriophage Protein that is Toxic to Mycobacterium smegmatis” in microbiology. Sileo is mentored by WKU faculty Dr. Rodney King in the Department of Biology.
“Sofia’s academic success is a testament to our efforts to provide a variety of learning opportunities for our students, like iLead Academy, with its focus on science, technology, engineering and math. Of course, Sofia took full advantage of those opportunities and applied herself with a great deal of hard work, intelligence, motivation and determination,” said Dr. Jim Masters, Superintendent of Henry County Public Schools. “We couldn’t be more proud of Sofia, and we are excited to see what her future holds.”