Pittsford Central School District congratulates Pittsford Class of 2026 graduates William Harrington (Mendon High School) and Weijun Wang (Sutherland High School) for earning the prestigious title of National Merit Scholars!  They were awarded $2,500 scholarships and were among approximately 6,700 Merit Scholarship® winners from a group of more than 15,000 Finalists and an initial pool of 1.3 million students who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

Congratulations also to the 17 Pittsford 2026 graduates who advanced to become finalists, counting themselves among less than one percent of U.S. high school students to achieve this honor:

MHS: Jay S. Biswas, Kevin P. Curran, Evan Liyu Dai, William J. Harrington, Jacob T. Ho, Karthik Jaligama, Ishaan Ramesh, Rain Royce, Yiding Zuo

SHS: Jamie Lyn Y. Earley, Ronit Gevarghese, Mary J. Minnella, Ryan Shaffer, Michael Shi, Weijun Wang, Ziao Oliver Wang, Anderson Warner

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous  college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 300 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.