FOREST PARK SENIOR NAMED SEMIFINALIST IN 2008 NATIONAL MERIT ® SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Walther Lutheran High School released news that Megan Childs of Forest Park has been named a Semifinalist in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program. The scholastically talented high school senior now has an opportunity to continue in the competition toward a Merit Scholarship® award given by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Childs is an involved student and an academically recognized student at the Melrose Park school. In addition to holding membership in the National Honor Society and earning a place in the Walther Scholars, she is currently active in Art Club and Camera Club. She serves on the staff of aura, the school's literary magazine. Megan is a flautist in the school band and orchestra, playing in several ensembles and the pep band. She is involved in theatre, having done design, set construction and orchestra for the spring 2007 production of “Carousel” and the currently in-rehearsal “Romeo and Juliet.” Childs participates in JETS (the Junior Engineering and Technical Society), Women in Engineering, and has traveled to Washington DC as part of the Close Up program. Megan has also competed athletically on Walther's track and field and cross country teams, as well as the forensics squad.

Approximately 16,000 students placed as Semifinalists in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program and will advance in the competition to become Finalists, eventually trying for one of the 8,200 Merit Scholarship 7 awards, worth $34 million, that will be offered next spring. The students entered the 2008 competition by taking the 2006 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

"Recognition of academically talented students and the key role played by schools in their development is essential to the pursuit of educational excellence in our nation," commented a spokesperson for NMSC. "The young people being named Semifinalists have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance in this highly competitive program. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and that they will continue to pursue scholastic excellence."

Walther Lutheran High School is a co-educational Christian school located at 9 th and Chicago in Melrose Park. The school has an enrollment of just over 400 students from over fifty different Chicagoland zip codes. For more information about Walther Lutheran High School, call 708.344.0404 or visit Walther.com.

Press Release contact: Lori Solyom, Public Information Coordinator