Sponsler Named National Merit Scholar Semifinalist

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Connor Sponsler, the top-ranked student in the Los Fresnos High School Class of 2020 after his junior year, has been named a semifinalist in the 65th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Sponsler is a multi-talented senior. He is co-president of the Los Fresnos High School Book Club, member of the Honor Society, UIL Number Sense and Science Bowl.

Sponsler is a member of the LFHS Chess Team and has played chess for 10 years. He practices 1-4 hours each week and competes in tournaments once or twice monthly. He has also volunteered with several service organizations in Los Fresnos for the last four years.

Sponsler was a member of the Los Fresnos High School band for two years, and is skilled in playing the violin, viola, bassoon and saxophone. He designates between 4 to 6 hours practice weekly playing the violin.

Sponsler’s skills are exceptional in the classroom. He has a SAT superscore of 1580, which is considered outstanding. He scored a 5 on five of seven AP exams to earn the award as an AP Scholar with Distinction. His weighted GPA is 117.833.

Only two other students from traditional public school districts in the Valley were selected – one from McAllen Memorial High School and one from Sharyland High School.

Approximately 16,000 semifinalists were chosen. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.