Photo courtesy of Homewood City Schools
The National Merit Semifinalists were announced on Sept. 11, and 13 Homewood High School students were named in the announcements.
Homewood City Schools announced on Sept. 12 that 13 Homewood High School students have been named National Merit Semifinalists.
The following students were named on a list of more than 16,000 semifinalists: Emma Berthiaume, Luke Binet, Margo Brandrup, Alejandra Briceno, Charles Chewning, Colton Cox, Samuel Ernest, Foster Laird, Emma Levering, Ruby Reeves, Reece Teter, Oliver Trolard, and Chandler York.
They earned this honor by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Semifinalists are the top 1% of scorers on the test in the state and earn teacher recommendations.
"We are beyond proud of these students for achieving such a prestigious honor,” HCS Superintendent Dr. Justin Hefner said. “They have worked hard and aimed for excellence in their studies, and have set the bar high. We are excited to see what the future holds for each of them as we know they will continue to achieve great things.”
Qualifying as a Semifinalists means these students have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To compete for National Merit Scholarships, Semifinalists must advance to the Finalist level of the competition by fulfilling several additional requirements.
A Semifinalist can become a Finalist and compete for a Merit Scholarship award in only one program year. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
