Sierra Lutheran students honored for academics

Sierra Lutheran High School honored four students on Sept. 27 for top academic honors.

Head of School Patrick Maynard recognized seniors Joseph Seddon, Samantha Steyn and juniors Nathan Tack and Morgan de la Torre at the end of the school’s chapel for their high marks.

Seddon and Steyn were among 16,000 students nationally to be named National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists. As juniors, they were chosen out of 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools who took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) in October 2022.

That put the seniors in top 1% nationwide. Steyn is sister to Sierra Lutheran graduate Hayden Steyn, who was the first in the school’s history last year to be recognized as a semifinalist.

“It’s nice to get this reward and that all that studying paid off,” Samantha Steyn said. “I’m probably going to pursue a biomedical engineering degree afterward. I like that Sierra Lutheran’s very in-person. I like talking to the teachers outside the classroom and to have that connection and be able to be super involved.”

Seddon served in the Nevada Youth Legislature this past biennium serving under Republican Sen. James Settelmeyer of Minden of District 17 covering Churchill, Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties. He said he would be interested in pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in biochemical engineering.

“It’s cool to see it pay off,” Seddon said of his and his peers’ hard work. “We’ve seen Hayden last year got (named semifinalist) and that was the first person in school history, and now there’s two of us, so to watch the work of the school and individual students pay off is cool. I like the personal and interpersonal connection at Sierra Lutheran. It makes it easier to succeed.”

To move on to the next round, Steyn and Seddon will complete a scholarship application. Approximately 95% of applicants will receive recognition as finalists in February and will compete for National Merit scholarships.

Juniors Tack and de la Torre were honored by the College Board National Recognition Program for their performance on the 2022 PSAT.

“It feels nice to have hard work pay off and know my studying is actually going somewhere,” Tack said. “It’s a good feeling. After school, I’m going to pursue a bachelor’s degree, probably in engineering or chemical biology.”

While she is undecided on her plans after school, de la Torre said she’s grateful that Sierra Lutheran’s staff assists students.

“It’s nice how much our teachers care about us,” she said. “I’m excited.”

Tack is recognized through the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program as Sierra Lutheran falls in a rural area, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). De la Torre is recognized through the National Hispanic Recognition Program. The academic achievement helps distinguish students above others to universities and scholarship committees in the college application process, according to Sierra Lutheran staff.