Pope John students commended

SPARTA — Pope John XXIII Regional High School announced that the following students have been named Commended Students in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program: Madlyn Cooper, of Andover; Sophia Giudici, of Flanders; Maxim Maiello, of Oak Ridge; Isabel Murdock, of Franklin; Leannah Newman, of Flanders; Matthew Piwko, of Sparta; Nicholas Popo, of Lake Hopatcong; Katlyn Rymarzow, of Vernon; and William Wartman, of Columbia.

In addition to their academic accomplishments, the Pope John XXIII High School honorees actively participate in every aspect of their school, displaying leadership qualities both within and outside the classroom, a school news release states.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recognizes the exceptional academic promise of roughly 34,000 Commended Students nationwide. These distinguished young scholars placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2015 competition by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The goal of the recognition is to broaden the students' educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success, the release states.