Eight Mehlville School District seniors have been named Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The Commended Students are Mehlville High School seniors Dong-Nghi Huynh, Mary Klarr, Kira Klein, Kristen Miller, Ravi Nemani and Michael Wisely and Oakville High School seniors Wesley Grass and Michael Kennedy.

A Letter of Commendation from the school principals and the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the program, will be presented to these scholastically talented students, according to a district news release.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Although they will not continue in the 2008 competition for Merit Scholarship awards, the Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“The young people named Commended Students in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program are distinguished by their strong academic performance in this rigorous competition,” a National Merit Scholarship Competition representative stated in the news release.

“Our nation’s pursuit of educational excellence can be furthered by publicly honoring these outstanding students and by acknowledging the important role schools play in fostering their development. We hope that this recognition will contribute to their educational opportunities and encourage all students to strive to realize their potential.”

Parents are Mary and Terry Grass, Karen and Michael Kennedy, Hanh Thi and Duc Huu Huynh, Ada and Josef Klarr, Sheila and David Klein, Linda and Robert Miller, Ramana and Rama Nemani and Gloria and Merle Wisely.