National Merit awards Ananda Kuchinsky

Bullard High School principal Leonard Speaker announced that Ananda Kuchinsky has been named a commended student in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship program.

The principal will present a letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program, to Ananda.

About 34,000 commended students throughout the nation are recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Ananda placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2007 competition by taking the 2005 preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying test.

"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," Speaker said. "Ananda has demonstrated outstanding academic potential by a strong performance in this highly competitive program.

"We hope this recognition will help broaden her educational opportunities and she continues pursuing scholastic excellence."

Ananda, a senior at BHS, is the daughter of Patti and Jeff Kuchinsky.