Whiz Kid: Hazelwood West High School Senior Named to Missouri Scholars 100

Joshua Merlenbach, a senior, will attend Southeast Missouri State University after graduation.

In the meantime, he's busy working to attain accolades like his recent, being selected as part of the Missouri Scholars 100.

The Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) selected Merlenbach to its 2012 Missouri Scholars 100 program, which honors 100 of the state’s top academic students in the graduating class of 2012.

“Students who are selected to this program have taken a rigorous course of study and have maintained the highest academic standards," said Jim L. King, executive director of MASSP. "The Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals wants to celebrate the achievement and success of these students and their schools.”

Each of the scholars' principal nominated them for the program. Selection is based on a formula using the student’s grade point average and ACT or SAT score. Each student had to meet the criteria of an academic decathlon designed to assure academic strength. To meet decathlon requirements, students must:

• Have a minimum GPA of 3.750
• A minimum ACT score of 29 or a minimum SAT score of 1,900
• Be ranked in the upper 10 percent of the class
• Have taken upper level courses in math, science, English and foreign language
• Have excellent attendance
• Be an exemplary school citizen
• Be involved in school activities

Congratulations Joshua Merlenbach, this week's Hazelwood Patch Whiz Kid.