Fornara selected as National Merit Scholarship winner

River View High School senior Will Fornara, left, is a National Merit Scholarship winner. He is pictured here with Chuck Rinkes, who is the principal at RVHS. Contributed | Beacon

WARSAW – Over a million students take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) every year and less than 1 percent are named National Merit Scholarship winners. Will Fornara, a senior at River View High School, and son of Chuck and Sarah Fornara, was selected as one of those winners.

Will said that while taking the test, he was only thinking about doing as well as he could – the thought of being a National Merit Scholarship winner wasn’t really a consideration. “I didn’t think about that. I just wanted to do well and get the test over with.”

Sarah said they are all extremely proud of Will and how well he did on the test and the scholarship application. “He knew the results were supposed to be announced on Monday and he asked his principal, Mr. Rinkes, several times that week if he had heard anything. Late in the day on Friday, Mr. Rinkes checked his e-mail one last time and there it was.” Sarah said she didn’t find out till later that night and is still excited to tell people about it.

His favorite subjects in school are math and science and Fornara hopes to study some type of engineering in college. After graduating from college, he would like to use that engineering degree in either research or technology. His college of choice would be Stanford, but he has several that he is thinking about. Ohio State has already accepted him, but he used to live in the western United States and would like to return there for college. When asked about moving that far from home, he said he has family that would be close by so it wouldn’t be too hard.

When he isn’t studying, Fornara enjoys playing sports, both organized and with his friends. He played soccer for four years in high school and also plays the saxophone in River View’s bands. He also likes to spend time fishing and deer and turkey hunting with his dad.

His scores on the PSAT earned him the title semi-finalist for the scholarship, but then he had to fill out a scholarship application that asked for his extra-curricular and service activities. He also needed to send his transcript and letters of recommendation from his principal and guidance counselor. An essay about the most influential person in his life had to be submitted, too.

“I wrote my essay about Miss Hedi. She was my preschool/kindergarten teacher and I think she kick-started my academic career. She was a little strict, but she must have seen something in me.” Fornara said his teacher fostered his love of learning and he believes she is one of the most influential teachers he has ever had.

Category: Education