Area students now qualified for a National Merit Finalist opportunity

By Chuck Gibson (Thanks to Moeller High School and Tammy Rosenfeldt)

LOVELAND, OH (September 15, 2025) – Three area students attending Archbishop Moeller High School are National Merit® Semifinalists.

Dr. Christine Brookbank, provost of Archbishop Moeller High School, announced Jake Allen (of Maineville), Kyle Borgemenke (of Lebanon), and Callen Lay (of Kings Mills) have been named National Merit® Semifinalists. Each of these three students was presented with a certificate from the National Merit® Scholarship Cooperation during Moeller’s Academic Awards Ceremony on September 10, 2025.

The three academically talented high school seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit® Scholarships worth nearly $26 million to be offered next spring.

“We are so proud of Jake, Kyle, and Callen. They exemplify what it means to be a Man of Moeller through their dedication and commitment to academic excellence. We can’t wait to celebrate what they accomplish beyond Moeller.” Dr. Christine Brookbank. Provost, Archbishop Moeller High School.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

High school juniors entered the 2026 National Merit® Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit® Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and rewards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Archbishop Moeller is an all-male Catholic high school (grades 9-12) located in the northeastern suburbs of Cincinnati, OH. Founded by the Marianist order of priests and brothers, Moeller opened in September of 1960. Moeller is constantly working toward fulfilling its Mission – Catholic. Marianist. Forming our Students into Remarkable Men.