Bay High School has 4 students recognized in 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program

James Kelly

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Bay Village City School District is proud to announce that four students have been recognized in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program, an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships.

James Kelly and Faith Teutschbein have been named Semifinalists, and Owen Appenheimer and Ewan Moss are recognized as Commended students. All are seniors at Bay High School.

These students were identified based on their 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores.

National Merit Semi-Finalists:

James Kelly
At Bay High School, James serves on Student Council, is a member of the Bay High Band Drumline and a member of National Honor Society. Outside of school, James is on the Bay Village Sailing Team and the Edgewater Yacht Club Race Team, and he works at Arrabiata’s Italian Restaurant in Bay Village. HIs favorite subjects are Math and History. James is currently undecided on his future career goals, but he is leaning toward a degree in Computer Science. He would like to attend Duke University, Purdue University, Georgetown University or The Ohio State University. James is the son of Patrick and Deborah Kelly.


Faith Teutschbein
Faith is involved in Pit Orchestra, Key Club and Student Government at Bay High School. She is also Treasurer of National Honor Society and a Marching Band Squad Leader. Her favorite subject at Bay High School is History. Outside of school, Faith works at Dairy Queen, and enjoys reading, getting coffee and creative writing. She plans on studying Psychology before pursuing a law degree, and hopes to attend the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Pittsburgh or University of Rochester. Faith is the daughter of Christine and Kirk Teutschbein.

Commended Students:

Owen Appenheimer
Owen enjoys volunteering at the Bay Library and is the youngest member of the “Friends of the Library.” He is part of the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and participated in Buckeye Boys State this past summer, where he was elected mayor of one of the cities. His interests include movies, physics, nature, all types of music and running. At Bay High School, Owen is a member of Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Pit Orchestra and National Honors Society. He is also Field Commander of the Bay High Rocket Marching Band. He loves every subject at Bay High School, but favorites include AP Calculus, AP U.S. History, AP Literature and AP Physics. At this time, Owen is interested in becoming a researcher or professor at a university in an area such as math or physics. He says he wants to go “to the best college that’ll take me.” Owen is the son of Ray and Margaret Appenheimer.

Ewan Moss
Ewan enjoys playing music with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. During the off season of Bay High School Soccer, he plays with the White Caps Soccer Club. He also volunteers at the Village Project and referees youth soccer for Bay Village Recreation. At Bay High School, Ewan is a Section Leader for Bay High School’s Marching Band, Principal Chair of Chamber Winds, a Leadership Team member of Model United Nations, Treasurer of Key Club, Treasurer of Thespians and President of the Robotics/Science Club. He is also a member of Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, National Honor Society and Varsity Soccer. His favorite subject at Bay High School is Chemistry. Future aspirations for Ewan include going to college to study Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Business or Filmmaking. He says his dream school would be Cornell University or Duke University. Ewan is the son of Fraser Moss and Jennifer Montgomery.

Of the 1.5 million students who took the 2022 PSAT/NMSQT, only 16,000 earn Semifinalist status, putting Bay High School’s James Kelly and Faith Teutschbein in the top 1% of students nationwide. They must submit an application to be named a finalist and continue on in the National Merit Scholarship competition. About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and more than half of those finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

"We are so proud of these four students and all that they have accomplished during their years at Bay High,” said Bay High School Principal Jason Martin.

"What an amazing honor for these four young people,” said Bay Village City School District Superintendent Scot Prebles. “They are not only leaders in our classrooms, but on the fields and within our community, as well. We are proud of each honoree.”