News Briefs: Local National Merit Semifinalists; NSCD’s Emmy winner visit; Glencoe’s Arm Strong

Plenty of North Shore high schoolers were named Semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship program.

High school juniors nationwide took the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and only approximately 16,000, or less than 1% of all high school seniors, earned the Semifinalist designation, according to New Trier High School.

Below are local Semifinalists organized by high school:

New Trier (39): Sean Bartsch, Isabella Castro, Charlotte Che, Lyla Cotter, Aren Emrikian, Katelyn Fang, Alexander Finlayson, Mariko Fox, Doria Han, Scarlett Harper, Eli Ho, James Hong, Kate Kang, Annabel Kim, Veronica Kovalova, Samuel Langdon, Henry Liu, Norah Luzadder, Renee Ma, Liam Madden, Elizabeth Malm, Ana Manojlovski, Ketan Offenbacher, Bryce Oh, Alice Pan, Alexander Pankotai, Romy Parekh, Jason Paris, Miles Remon, Jacob Rosenbloom, Daniel Sheperd, Jamie Shu, Eli Strusiner, Ian Sturgis, Arjun Thakrar, Evelina VanderBurg, Sydney Wong, Zhiyang Yu and Maya Zacks.

Loyola Academy: Audrey Alfe, Caleb Krecker and Spencer Schmalz

North Shore Country Day: Isaac G. and Shirley N.

Highland Park: Zoe Heller, Ethan Horwich, Max Pass, William Rosemeyer and Callie Wu

Niles West: Arib Ansari, Solomon Davids, Kc Embers, Beckett Gottlieb and Stefan Hadzi-Pecov

The Semifinalists have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $24 million. About 95 percent of Semifinalists reportedly are expected to advance to the Finalist level and about half of those will win a National Merit Scholarship.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

‘Family Guy’ showrunner given NSCD alumni award

Winnetka’s North Shore Country Day honored two-time Emmy Award-winning and six-time Emmy-nominated writer, producer and showrunner Richard Appel, a 1981 NSCD graduate, with the 2026 Francis R. Stanton ’27 Alumni Recognition during the school’s homecoming weekend Sept. 25-26.

In a media release, NSCD wrote that Appel returned to Winnetka to celebrate his 45th high school reunion and receive the annual alumni honor, which recognizes graduates whose lives and work reflect the values of North Shore Country Day and its motto, “Live and Serve.”

Before joining classmates for reunion festivities, Appel reportedly spent Sept. 25 on the school’s campus, meeting with students and sharing stories from a career that has taken him from a federal courtroom to the writers’ rooms of some of television’s best-known comedies. His conversations with students touched on creativity, collaboration, taking risks and the unexpected paths a career can take.

Appel, who joined North Shore as a fifth-grader, said the school gave him room to explore his interests and discover what inspired him. As a student, he co-founded a weekly newspaper, participated in a student production of “Bleacher Bums” and competed on the tennis team.

“My years at North Shore were very formative and very important to me,” Appel said. “It’s nice to think that you’re still a part of a world that mattered so much to you, and to be connected to a place that encouraged you to invent your life rather than follow a preconceived path.”

After graduating from North Shore, Appel attended Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, and Harvard Law School. He went on to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York before making a dramatic career change at age 30, leaving the law to pursue television writing.

Within months of moving to Los Angeles, Appel earned a spot in the writers’ room at “The Simpsons,” beginning a career that has spanned more than three decades. He has since worked as a writer, producer and showrunner on animated comedies including “King of the Hill,” “American Dad!”, “The Cleveland Show” and “Family Guy,” where he currently serves as executive producer and co-showrunner. He also served as co-executive producer of “The Bernie Mac Show.”

The Francis R. Stanton ’27 Alumni Recognition carries particular significance for Appel because Stanton — known to generations of North Shore students as “Franny” — was his tennis coach. Appel recalls an athletic dinner at which Stanton recognized him not for his performance on the court but for his sportsmanship and team spirit.

The Village of Glencoe Public Works Department recently got a new grappler truck, and residents have given it a name.

Following a naming contest at the community’s recent Touch-a-Truck, the new truck is now Arm Strong.

The Village said the name “will be proudly displayed on the truck soon.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.