LHS SENIOR RANKS TOP IN NATION
Already at the top of her class, now Lakewood High senior Kiana Oos is also top in the nation.
Oos is one of a select few high school seniors across the nation to earn semifinalist status in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Her scores on the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) earned this accolade. It is presented to only 16,000 out of the more than 3 million high school seniors across the country.
It was not just brain power that secured Oos’ honor. In 2020, COVID 19 forced the cancelation of the PSAT/NMSQT at high schools across the region including Lakewood High School. Her determination and drive led Oos to locate an alternative testing location and complete the extra paperwork to ensure she was in the running.
“She really went out of her way to apply to be a semifinalist,” said Melanie Irish, Career Center Specialist at Lakewood High School.
Oos’ work ethic has kept her name on the Honor Roll for years. Earning this distinction does not surprise her current LHS teachers or those from her time at Lakewood Middle School and Cougar Creek Elementary School.
She is enrolled in several advanced courses and maintains a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Oos is also a leader on the school’s varsity soccer team, a member of school’s chapter of National Honor Society, and a Cougar Crew mentor to younger students.
University of Washington, University of California at Berkley, and Western Washington University are three of the schools she is applying to after graduation. Oos is interested in studying environmental sciences.
“We’re a small school so it is quite an honor for us,” Irish said. The last Cougar semifinalist was named in 2014.
#Lakewood is a small district going big places.