By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA
Moapa Valley Progress
Grady Call, a senior at Moapa Valley High School, was recently recognized as a National Merit Scholar finalist. During a school pep assembly last Friday, Feb. 15, MVHS Principal Hal Mortensen announced the achievement before the school.
Mortensen remarked that this award has not been received at MVHS in some time and is therefore a great honor, not only for Call, but for the rest of the school as well.
The mission of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is to promote academic achievement and to honor those who are intellectually talented. This prestigious academic award will grant Call national prestige as well as scholarship opportunities.
Of the 1.5 million high school students who take the PSAT every year, only 16,000 are chosen as semifinalists. Call was awarded with this honor in Sept. 2018.
To become a finalist, Call then had to undertake a rigorous application process that included taking the PSAT twice, filling out application forms, submitting an essay and taking the SAT.
“We are so excited for Grady,” Grady’s mother, Lisa Call, said. “He’s worked so hard, and it’s so great to see that work bear fruit.”
Lisa explained that Call was motivated and spent lots of time looking into the program to make sure he met all of the qualifications.
Call’s father, Adrian Call, added, “It’s great! Grady’s worked really hard; he’s always been really studious.”
Three types of scholarship awards are offered through the National Merit Scholarship Program: a $2,500 corporate-sponsored award; renewable college-sponsored scholarships; and corporate-sponsored awards. Call will hear back about which scholarships he qualifies for in the next few months.
Call credited the Moapa Valley community with helping him to reach this goal.
“It’s just incredible to me that everybody has helped so much,” he said. “I could not have done this alone; there’s no way.”
Call said that his family, friends, MVHS College and Career Center advisor Connie Robertson and MVHS counselor Geniel Ozaki were crucial to his success as a National Merit Scholar Finalist.
“It’s really cool to be able to represent Moapa Valley High School. It’s a great honor,” he said.
Call plans to attend BYU-Provo for one year before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will then continue his studies at BYU, where he plans to major in English and minor in political science and legal studies.
