Saline High School Has 14 National Merit Semifinalists

Fourteen Saline High School seniors are among 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists announced last week.

The students have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million that will be offered next spring.

Making the list from Saline are Tate Burns, Haley Byrnes, Andrew Chen, Gabriel Ellis, Allisan Farrand, Genevra Galura, Heather Harmon, Julia Hogikyan, Emily Jablonski, Aaron Mukerjee, Madeline Parkinson, Julia Prisby, Alec Rodriguez and Karl Winsor.

"These students are talented and bright. Having 14 students on the list is a testament to the work done by our students at Saline High School, the support they receive from their parents, and our talented teaching staff," said Saline High Principal Ben Williams.

Finalists will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships. But the scholarship means more than money.

"It opens doors for students. Students are competing to get into the best schools and best programs and very few can put something like this beside their name," Williams said.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn sat scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. The semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by the corporation with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share corporation's goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.