Yancy Ford, principal at Effingham County High School, has announced that Ansley Rae Callanan, a senior at ECHS, has been named a Commended Student in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Callanan is the daughter of John and Karen Callanan of Guyton.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2008 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

According to a spokesperson for the program, “Our nation’s pursuit of educational excellence can be furthered by publicly honoring these outstanding students and by acknowledging the important role schools play in fostering their development.”