Email announcements to almanac@connectionnewspapers.com. Deadline is Thursday at noon. Photos are welcome.

Our Lady of Mercy School Open House (K-8). 8:30 -10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 11, 9222 Kentsdale Dr. Call 301-365-4477

The following students are semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program Steps in the 2013 Competition.

WALT WHITMAN H.S.: Rachel A. Arnesen, Marit S. Bjornlund, Benjamin A. Bouvier, Ryan C. Brand, Jana L. Butman, Allegra C.Caldera, Madeline M. Carrington, Sara J. Chadwick, Xian H. Chang, Laura D. Elmendorf, Alison M. Foreman, David C. Goldman, Michelle R. Isaacs, Lucas Karron, William T. Knox, Pia Kochar, Hanna X. Lee, Samuel Pearl-Schwartz, Emily Rogers, Jacob M. Rosenblum, Brandon T. Shapiro, Rhiannon M. Smith, Sofia Z. Todd, John F. Williams and Kevin You.

WINSTON CHURCHILL H.S.: Catherine M. Conway, Christopher Gauch, Andrew P. Haskins, Colin J. Kincaid, Jessica C. Lee, Felix Li, Nikita Markovych, Neil G. Shekar, Maeve K. Tobin, Sara Y. Wang and Alyssa K. Weiss.

HEIGHTS SCHOOL: David E. Krohn.

THOMAS SPRIGG WOOTTON H.S.: Amal O. Dadi, Austin Feng, Souvik Ghosh, Michelle A. He, Christina I.Hwang, Chong Li, Sophie M. Li, Kathleen Lu, Yanhong Lu, Cara T. Lwin, Susan J. McGrattan, Yini Qi, Heidi J. Shiau and Eric C. Yi.

Jamil Abdur-Raoof was among the 13 men who graduated following the summer term at the end of the 237th academic year at Hampden-Sydney College. Abdur-Raoof graduated with a B.A. in psychology. A graduate of Thomas S. Wootton High School, he is the son of Ms. Jill Jackson of Rockville and Mr. Aziz Abdur-Raoof of Laurel.

Virginia Tech student Monica Caropreso, from Potomac, will join the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Ambassador Program. Students are selected to join the team each spring through a competitive application process.

Natalie Bree Abrams, a graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, has entered Colgate University as a member of the Class of 2016.

Elizabeth Horowitz, of Potomac, has enrolled in Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the nation's first and largest technological college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. She is a 2012 graduate of Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville. She is the daughter of Cathy Horowitz.