Two DRS seniors named National Merit Semifinalists

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) last year. Following a year-long wait, approximately 16,000 of those students were selected as National Merit Semifinalists, with 899 from New York being recognized. Nathan Gelman and Eitan Zinberg, both seniors at Davis Renov Stahler (DRS) Yeshiva High School, were part of this select group of academically talented students.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Zinberg, who is also an AP Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society. “I am grateful to my principal, teachers and parents for all their encouragement and support over the years.” Zinberg has been on the Principal’s Honor Roll for the past three years and has been the recipient of numerous “Student of the Month” awards in various subjects. He placed second at the 2009 Jerusalem Science Contest, where he studied the effects of radiation.

Gelman said he is extremely thankful to all those who helped him achieve this great accomplishment. “I am most appreciative of all the encouragement and help my parents and teachers gave me to achieve this unexpected honor,” said Gelman, a member of the National Honor Society, an AP Scholar and a member of DRS basketball team. Gelman is deeply committed to the plight of others and has traveled to the Ukraine to volunteer and mentor children in an orphanage in Kiev.

Two other DRS seniors, Ari Adler and Benjamin Kaminetsky, received recognition as Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

Harvey Feldman, General Studies Principal at DRS, said he is proud of all the students that were recognized, but praised Zinberg and Gelman for their outstanding achievement. “I am very proud of Eitan and Nathan being named National Merit semifinalists,” Feldman said. “Both boys are wonderful role models and through their hard work and diligence have achieved this well deserved and prestigious honor.”

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