La Porte High School seniors Christopher Dlouhy and Audrey Ladd have been named Commended Students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.

They are among approximately 34,000 students in the nation earning this honor for their exceptional academic promise. Christopher and Audrey will be presented with a letter of commendation from La Porte High School and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program.

Commended Students placed among the top five percent of the more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2013 competition by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Christopher is the son of Lynnesa and Felix Dlouhy, and Audrey is the daughter of Gina and Donald Ladd.

Christopher has been a member of the Mighty Bulldog Marching Band, in which he plays the clarinet, for the past four years. He has also been a participant in the annual musical and a member of Eco Club and Student Council throughout high school.

A member of the Mu Alpha Theta math honor society and National Honor Society, Christopher served as an officer for TRUTH and HOPE and is active in the Interact Club. He was the winner of the District Spelling Bee for three consecutive years and participates in the Academic Decathlon.

In addition, Christopher earned state recognition in the Duke Talent Identification Program and is the recipient of the Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction award. He also serves as a student representative on the Citizens Advisory Council to La Porte Industry.

Christopher has two sisters--Jessica, who is a nurse working in the Houston Medical Center, and Kayla, who attends the Baker Sixth Grade Campus.

After graduation, he hopes to attend MIT or Stanford University, majoring in biomedical engineering, and later pursue a graduate degree. He hopes to someday work in research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Audrey has participated in the La Porte High School musical throughout her high school career, serving as assistant director last year. She has been a member of the UIL one-act cast and crew for the past two years as well and is a member of Thespians, in which she serves as an officer.

Audrey also is a four-year member of the LPHS Orchestra, participating in the varsity Orchestra the past two years. A cellist, she has been an officer in the group for the past four years. She served as freshman representative as a ninth grader, vice president as a sophomore, and president for her junior and senior years.

An Advanced Placement Scholar with Honors, Audrey is also the current vice president of the National Honor Society and a member of the Eco Club. She also participated in the TRUTH program.

She has one sister, Amanda, who graduated from LPHS in 2010.

While Audrey is undecided about her college choice at this time, she plans to major in history and later attend graduate school to study museum science, with the goal of becoming a museum curator. Particularly interested in European and North African history, Audrey says that she would love to someday work at the Cairo Museum.

"Christopher and Audrey are true academic leaders on our campus," said Todd Schoppe, LPHS principal. "We are very proud of their accomplishments and look forward to hearing about their additional achievements in the future."