EVANSTON, Ill.—The National Merit Scholarship winners of 2008 include seniors from three Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Toledo.

Nick P. Stanford of Lima Central Catholic, Theresa S. Relation of Toledo Notre Dame Academy and Nadeem E. Abou-Arraj of Toledo St. John’s Jesuit were selected from a pool of 15,000 finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. They are part of a small, elite group of just 1,100 high school seniors from across the country receiving National Merit Scholarships.

Scholar selection is based on each finalist’s academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay describing interests and goals; and the recommendation of a high school official.