Senior Named Commended Scholar

Congratulations to senior Derek Yaek, named a Commended Student in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Competition. 

Derek is the first DLS student to achieve this recognition since the pandemic. 

He scored in the top 3% nationally, out of 1.5 million students, on the 2022 Preliminary SAT, known as the PSAT, which Derek and other members of the Class of 2024 took in October 2022. 

Derek was honored at the beginning of a school assembly on Friday, October 13, 2023. 

In addition to his achievement on the PSAT test, Derek scored a 1540 (out of a perfect 1600) on the SAT test. Derek has said he was “sick as a dog” that day, and plans to retake the test for “bragging rights.”  

Derek attended St. Augustine Grade School in Richmond, in northern Macomb County. 

He got to know De La Salle through summer camps that he attended, including chemistry and the medical camp. He ultimately decided to attend De La Salle because of the school’s STEM offerings. 

Derek is enrolled in five Advanced Placement (AP) courses this year, and has already taken ten AP classes. He is ranked second in the Class of 2024 with a cumulative GPA of 4.55

He is an involved student, and a co-captain of the DLS cross-country team. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the World Cultures Club, the Medical Club, and the Military History Club. 

He volunteers regularly at St. Augustine as an altar server and at parish events, as well as working at the school as a maintenance employee. , and as

Derek is currently considering colleges and potential majors. He spent two weeks at Northwestern, but is also interested in Stanford, Duke, Cornell, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Michigan. He is interested in etymology and languages, and has taught himself Latin  and some Greek. 

Derek and his brother Curtis, a sophomore, assist their parents, Jonathan and Jennifer, on the family farm. The Yaeks raise soybeans and corn.
 

Senior Named Commended Scholar
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