Three students from Niceville High School have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, while two students from Fort Walton Beach High School earned commendations, school officials announced this week.
Kira Tuper, Aurora Mendenhall and Brody Plaiser from Niceville High are among 16,000 semifinalists selected from 1.5 million entrants in the National Merit Scholarship competition. The trio scored in the top 1% on the Preliminary SAT exam taken in their junior year.
To become finalists, the students must submit detailed scholarship applications with endorsements from school officials, write essays and earn SAT or ACT scores confirming their performance on the qualifying exam. About 7,250 students will win National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million combined.
Miller Lindsley and Alessandro Chavarin from Fort Walton Beach High received National Merit Scholarship Commended Student honors. They are among 34,000 recognized for exceptional academic promise, placing them in the top 50,000 PSAT test scorers.
- Though they won’t continue in the 2024 scholarship competition, commended students are part of a valuable national resource, said an official with the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
“I am extremely proud of these students and their efforts to earn this Scholarship. It is not an easy process, and those who are recognized at any level for their academic excellence deserve it,” shared Superintendent Marcus Chambers.
