And the Oscars goes to . . .
BBHS Seniors recognized as Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition
Congratulations to Blind Brook High School seniors Amrit Mohapatra, Simon Riley, Abigail Weintraub and Jocelyn Zheng for being named a 2026 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists.
This past week officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMS®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.
“I am so proud of these four semifinalists,” BBHS Principal Mark Greenwald said. “They are all incredible, committed students and are very deserving of the recognition. I wish them all the best as they move forward through the process to become National Merit Scholars.”
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
In a release from the NMSP, it noted “over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.”
The release also outlined the next steps for semifinalists, who must
And the Oscars goes to . . .
![Group of students standing in front of movie posters]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1780418371/blindbrookorg/numaahqabf6bu0s0kifs/IMG_6357.jpg","width":2200}])
It was a double win day for Charles Zelman. First, he had helped bring a victory to the Blind Brook High School Varsity Baseball team, leading them to the semifinals. Later that evening, he was awarded a Best Director award during the “Honors Shapers Oscar” celebration for his work on “False Exposure,” a student-made film produced for the school’s Honors Shapers of the World class. He accepted the award while still wearing his baseball uniform.
Charles was not the only double winner either. Members of the cast of “Chicago: Teen Edition,” began the evening with a brief retelling of “Cell Block Tango,” renamed “Films to Debut,” as an introduction of what was to come. Just the day before the performers had learned the musical production was up for seven Metro Awards.
And the winners did not stop there.
The Fourth Annual Oscars Night brought out the best in students in Jon Ambrosio and Jessica Cerasoli’s class. Students had read the ancient Greek play “Medea,” which tells the story of a scorned woman. After fleeing to Corinth, Medea’s husband, Jason, abandons her and their two children in the hopes of improving his circumstances by marrying another woman. Medea, shocked and depressed by her husband’s actions, does the only thing she can think to do, plot her revenge to make Jason suffer. She murders their children.
After reading the play, students worked in groups to produce a 20-minute film retelling the story.
On May 19, they along with family and friends gathered in the BBHS Auditorium for their films premiere and awards ceremony.
The audience enjoyed three films, “The Horror of Corinth,” “The Final Cut,” and “False Exposure.”
During their acceptance speeches, several award winners thanked their fellow students, families and their teachers.
“It’s really a privilege to create something so special,” said Ashley Krivinski, who accepted the “Best Costumes,” award for her team.
“This class helped me be creative persistent and always to think outside of the box,” said Peyton Bucchanan, when accepting her award for Best Cinematography.
“I did not have this much fun in an English class since I took your Honors class a few years ago,” Amrit Mohapatra told his teachers. “It’s an incredibly rewarding experience to see our hard work come together and produce such an amazing film.”
Amrit was accepting the award for Best Editing.
And the Oscar goes to . . .
Best Supporting Actor: Benjamin Goldowsky, “The Horror of Corinth”
Best Supporting Actress: Yana Vorobiev
Best Costumes: Ashley Krivinskas, Alexandra Music & Lily Wolf, “The Horror of Corinth”
Best Cinematography: Peyton Bucchanan, Allison Low & Charles Zelman, “False Exposure”
Best Editing: Amrit Mohapatra, “False Exposure”
Best Actor: Tyler Taerstein, “False Exposure”
Best Actress: Sofia Lungariello, “The Horror of Corinth”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “The Final Cut,” Sara Ambramson, Emily Golodnikov and Ella Rosenfeld
Best Director: Charles Zelman
Best Picture: “False Exposure”
- BBHS
- District