National Merit Semifinalists Adler, Bohan and Stinson Excel in the Classroom

north thurston high school
North Thurston High School has three seniors awarded the coveted National Merit semifinalist title. (From left) Ollin Bohan, Aaron Adler, and Carly Stinson all qualified based on an endorsement by a school official, an essay, and their SAT score.
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By Gail Wood

Fisher Jones logoIt’s been a cooperative effort, teaming parent, student and teacher.

And as a result Aaron Adler, Carly Stinson and Ollin Bohan are tops not only in their classrooms but in the country. The three North Thurston High School seniors are semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program.  To qualify, a semifinalist must have outstanding grades, be endorsed by a school official, write an essay and score high on the SATs.

They nodded their heads in agreement when asked if their parents routinely asked if they had homework to do. And they all had teachers who inspired and prompted them.

“So far, my most interesting class has been AP Chemistry,” Adler said.

That comment alone sets Adler ahead of the class. Not many students walk into a chemistry class with such excitement and enthusiasm. But Adler did.

“It was hands on and really fascinating,” Adler said.

That was a common spark among these three A students. They shared a fascination in learning. Stinson, whose parents are both biologists, talked excitedly about science. Bohan was passionate about computer science. For the past two years, Bohan has done an after-school job, freelancing at home as a graphic designer for icons representing iPhone apps.

north thurston high school
North Thurston High School has three seniors awarded the coveted National Merit semifinalist title. (From left) Ollin Bohan, Aaron Adler, and Carly Stinson all qualified based on an endorsement by a school official, an essay, and their SAT score.

He’s inspired by the success stories of people achieving in computer software.

“I’ve read a lot of stories about people who had an idea in software development and it ended up working out for them,” Bohan said. “Those stories are inspiring.”

The last time Stinson brought home a report card that didn’t have straight A’s was her sophomore year. She got an A-minus. Her cumulative grade point average is 3.94. She scored a 2,040 on the SAT.

“I wasn’t always straight A’s,” she said.

In grade school, there were some B’s. But she’s learned the art of studying, just like Bohan and Adler.

As a ninth grader, Adler wanted to get ahead so he took a geometry class and ended up getting a C. For the last couple of semesters, he’s been a straight A student and now has a 3.44 GPA. He scored a 2,160 on his SAT.

“My GPA has been going up since I started doing high school credits,” Adler said. “I’ve learned how to study. But I had a couple of early courses that are dragging me down.”

But it’s not where a student begins that matters. It’s where they end. And Adler hopes to end up in college majoring in robotics or something in the engineering field. He’s looking at the University of Washington or Stanford.

“Stanford would be my dream school,” he said. “Financially, it would be a bit of a stretch. Academically as well. If I could get in there, it would be great.”

Bohan carried a perfect 4.0 GPA for his first two years of high school. But then that slipped when he got an A-minus in an AP Chemistry class as a junior. He now has a 3.9 GPA. On the SAT he scored a 2,290, only 110 points behind a perfect score.

Bohan struggled answering the question about his favorite subject, showing his balance and enthusiasm.

“I don’t know what my favorite subject is,” he said. “I like English. But I’m also good at math and science.”

But what he wants to pursue after college is graphic design and interaction design for computers.

“I’d love to design virtual reality interfaces, but we’re not there yet,” Bohan said.

Another factor that’s helped set these three students apart is their perspective on television, often the villain to good grades. Stinson doesn’t even have a TV in her home. Bohan’s family didn’t get one until two years ago. Adler prefers to read.

Bohan and Adler are both enrolled in college classes through Running Start at South Puget Sound Community College. Stinson is involved in sports, turning out for both soccer and track. Right now, she’s taking four AP classes – government, literature, calculus and physics. Additionally, she’s taking pottery, just because she loves it.

“Right now, I just want to learn the skills and then I’ll find out what I’m going to do with them,” Bohan said about his career ambitions.

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship program and about 16,000 are named a semifinalist. The nationwide pool of semifinalists is about one percent of high school seniors in the country. Approximately 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalist advance to finalist standing and about 8,000 receive scholarships. Notable scholarship winners include Bill Gates in 1973, Jeff Bezos in 1982 and Howard Friedman in 1988.  The pool of finalists will be announced in February.

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