LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / September 20, 2000

LAPLACE – Two students were named National Merit Scholarship semi- finalists, the only ones chosen in the River Parishes area.

They are Robert Paydo of St. Charles Catholic High School and Glenn Fahrigof Hahnville High School.

Paydo is the son of Robert and Diane Brown of LaPlace. His parents bothwork for St. John Parish public schools, he as a technology facilitator andshe as a supervisor for special education.

Paydo himself is active in French Club, Beta Club and Science Bowl, while achieving all-district and all-state recognition as a swimmer and maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.Paydo is considering either Tulane University or Duke University to pursue medical studies.

“I was very pleased,” he commented. By the way, he also achieved a 35composite score on the American College Test (ACT) out of a possible 36.

To relax, Paydo uncharacteristically said, “I like to watch wrestling every Monday night.”Principal Andrew Cupit added, “He’s not only gifted, he’s driven.”An estimated 1.2 million students took preliminary tests from more than20,000 high schools across the country. Of these, 16,000 have been namedsemi-finalists.

From those, an estimated 14,000 will be designated as finalists, and only 7,900 National Merit Scholarships, valued at $2,500, will be awarded.

Fahrig is the youngest of Jasper and Theresa Fahrig’s three sons. His fatheris an employee at Shell and his mother is a paralegal. Brother Jasper III willbegin student teaching in music education next semester and brother Jody has just completed 10 years in the U.S. Army.Fahrig commented, “I was kind of surprised, and I did better than I thought I would do.”His thoughts toward college include either the University of Mississippi or the University of Central Florida, to study forensic science.

Besides maintaining his 4.0 grade point average he also plays trombone in theHHS Marching Band. He has been active in music since sixth grade.”I enjoy hanging out with my friends, but school and band take up most of my time,” Fahrig commented.

‘I’ve gotten this far and it feels pretty good,” he said with a smile.

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