Two New Hyde Park Students Win National Merit Scholarships

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — Two high school students from New Hyde Park have been named winners of the 2021 National Merit $2,500 Scholarship.

Rhea Rasquinha and Kyle Pinzon, both of Herricks High School, were among the more than 3,100 winners nationwide announced Wednesday, selected from a pool of more than 16,000 finalists.

This is the third group of National Merit Scholarship winners to be announced this year. In May, more than 1,000 recipients of the corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship were named.

Additional winners will be announced in July. By the end of the year, about 7,500 students will have won merit scholarships totaling more than $30 million. The money can be put toward any regionally accredited college or university in America.

Rasquinha and Pinzon — respectively named Herricks' Class of 2021 valedictorian and salutatorian — earned eligibility after being picked National Merit Finalists this winter. They were selected based on their academic records, essays, standardized test scores, leadership involvement, and other factors determined by the National Merit Scholarship Program, a press release stated.

The merit scholarship program was created in 1955. Students in grades nine through 12 vie for academic recognition and financial support.

This year's program began in October 2019. More than 1.5 million juniors at approximately 21,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants, according to officials. Only 17,000 of the highest scorers had the opportunity to continue in this competition.

Rhea Rasquinha

Rasquinha is vice president of student government and has previously served as co-president of the STEM Club, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and Euro/Fed Challenge. She is also the public relations/podcast editor of the Herricks Explore, Create, Share group and helped organize the Herricks Strong community assistance initiative.

Kyle Pinzon

Pinzon serves as president of student government and a varsity member of Herricks Quiz Bowl. He has also contributed to the Freshmen Focus and Yearbook organizations as co-president alongside Rasquinha. Additionally, he is an accomplished musician and a varsity swim and badminton athlete.