Two RHS Seniors are named Commended Students in the 2007 National Merit Schoarship Program

(RIVERHEAD, New York - October, 2006) Two RHS seniors, Tara McKenna and Erin Belfield, have been named Commended Scholars in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Only 34,000 of the 1.4 million juniors who complete the PSATs reach this level of competition. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for Merit Scholarship, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of those 1.4 million students who entered the 2007 competition by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). This is an outstanding achievement and deserving of recognition.

"Recognition of academically talented students and the key role played by schools in their development is essential in the pursuit of educational excellence in our nation," comments a spokesperson for NMSC. "The young people being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance in this highly competitive program."

Erin Belfield is a member of Blue Masques, the French Club, Math Club, the National Honor Society and the National Foreign Language Honor Society. She plays the tenor sax in the Jazz Ensemble.

"I loved AP Chemistry," states Erin. "I even miss it."

Erin's parents are Nora and Scott Belfield. Her older sister, Eileen, is a freshman at Bucknell University, where she is a member of the rowing team. Erin is currently applying to colleges and plans to major in Engineering.

Tara McKenna is also a member of Blue Masques. She is in the cast and in charge of the choreography for "Grease." She plays the cello in orchestra and sings in Show and Chamber Choir. Tara is a member of Mentathletes, Math Club, the National Honor Society, the Latin Honor Society and dances with the ReDancers.

Tara's parents are Martin and Janis McKenna. Her older sister, Erin, is a sophomore at Harvard. Tara is currently applying to colleges and is undecided about a major.

"I really enjoy Latin, so I've thought of majoring in that," she states, but my favorite subject in high school was physics, and so I'm also thinking about a major in science or math."