Almquist, Rodriguez earn honors

Posted on: Oct 1, 2019

Two Delano High School seniors have been named Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program. 

Jennifer Almquist and Chloe Rodriguez earned the honor by scoring among the top 3 percent of more than 1.5 million students nationally who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” said a statement from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation.”

Dr. Steve Heil, principal of Delano High School, said Commended Students are recognized by colleges and companies across the world, and many offer scholarships or incentives to those students.

“Both students should be very proud of their accomplishment,” Heil said. “It shows a level of high achievement after years of hard work.”

While in rare company, Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit scholarships, as semifinalists do.

Jennifer Almquist
Almquist is no stranger to academic success, having earned the Yale Book Award as the top member of her junior class last spring. Still, she said that while she knew her PSAT score was in the range for recognition, the actual announcement came as a surprise.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I was not expecting it at all when I got called down to the office.”

Almquist said her favorite subject in school is math, though she has thoroughly enjoyed psychology so far this year. Teachers who have been particularly influential to her at Delano High School include Jerry Shouts and Karen Hohenstein. 

The main ingredients to her success, Almquist said, were hard work and time management.

“Senior year is just as busy as junior year,” she said. “There’s no time for senior slack. I started out strong at the beginning of the school year and just want to keep it going. I don’t want to slow down or give up, because when I get into college I’m not going to want to let my grades drop.”

Almquist has not yet decided on a college, but is planning to apply to a handful of liberal arts schools in the Midwest.

Aside from school work, Almquist serves as the treasurer for National Honor Society, competes on the Math Team and dances competitively with the Star Seekers program.

Almquist is the daughter of Ken and Rhonda Almquist of Delano.

Chloe Rodriguez
Rodriguez, who is a postsecondary student at Bethel University in St. Paul this year, learned that she had been named a Commended Student through a phone call from her mother.

“At first I didn’t believe her,” Rodriguez said. “I thought she had just read it wrong, but she confirmed it, so then I was really proud of myself.”

Rodriguez also was honored by the National Hispanic Recognition Program for scoring in approximately the top 1 percent of Hispanic students nationally.

Eventually, Rodriguez plans to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics, and physics and mathematics have been her favorite classes in school.

“I really like when you can solve an equation and it all works out nicely in the end. You get a straightforward answer,” she said.

 Like Almquist, Rodriguez named Shouts and Hohenstein as two teachers who made a difference for her at Delano High School.

“Mrs. Hohenstein was my chemistry teacher last year. I don’t plan on studying chemistry, but her classes were really intellectual and I felt challenged in them,” said Rodriguez. 

While Rodriguez said her dream college is Yale, she may opt to stay on at Bethel, which has a strong physics program of its own. She said the key to her academic success has been managing homework assignments evenly over time so deadlines don’t become insurmountable.

What advice does she have for her fellow students?

“Study what interests you because you’re going to be more motivated to learn,” she said.

Aside from academics, Rodriguez ran cross country in Delano for seven years, and now plays rugby on a club team in Hopkins. 

She is the daughter of Mario and Emilee Rodriguez of Delano.

 

Post Categories: High School