Staff photo/Jane Howard CCHS senior Karlee Axtell (center) with her parents, Denise and Treg Axtell, after she received a commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for her high score on the 2008 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT ). The award was presented to her by Principal Gwen Carman at CCHS Monday, November 2, 2009.
Cook County High School (CCHS) senior Karlee Axtell scored in the top 5% in the nation on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) she took in October 2008. She was in the top 50,000 of the more than 1.5 million students who took the test.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has awarded Axtell a commendation for her score. The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual competition among high school students that leads to public recognition and college scholarships. The not-for-profit National Merit Scholarship Corporation conducts the program.
Axtell scored 204 on the test. “It’s very unusual for someone to break 200,” said CCHS guidance counselor Bryan Hackbarth.
Axtell’s ACT test score, used in college admission decisions, was in the 97th percentile among those who took the test in 2009.
School principal Gwen Carman presented Axtell with the commendation on Monday, November 2, 2009. The framed document states, “This letter of commendation is awarded to Karlee Axtell for outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2008.”
A news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation says, “As demonstrated by their outstanding performance in our highly competitive program, the young men and women named Commended Students represent some of the most academically talented students in our country.”
Karlee’s parents, Treg and Denise Axtell, were at the school with Karlee when she received the commendation.
Axtell said she is not sure where she will go to school but is considering several options, including Vermilion Community College in Ely and St. Scholastica in Duluth, where her parents attended college. “I’m going to college,” she said. “I just don’t know where yet.”
She said she is interested in pursuing a career in biochemistry and/or the medical sciences.
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