Nearly 70 high school students in Hawaii are semifinalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Programs, through which academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in a competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million that will be offered next spring.
About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools across the country entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists — representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors — includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Hawaii’s semifinalists include (Hawaii Baptist Academy) Brittani J. A. Hartley, Geoffrey J. Ing and Elise A. Uyehara; (‘Iolani School) Matthew R. Beattie-Callahan, Ilana R. Buffenstein, Megan S. Ching, Clarissa J. Gonzales, Shane J. Hayakawa, Chanelle M. Huang, Spencer H. Kiehm, Kelsie C. Kodama, Timothy T. Leong, Kekoa Morris, Sarah Oyadomari, Justin J. Park, Brandan I. Sakka, Alexander K. Sasaki, Taylor M. Tagawa and Sarah H. Zhang; (Kahuku High School) Cooper J. Schwartz and Chenoa Yorgason; (Kamehameha Schools, Kapalama Campus) Meghan K. Crowther, Damien N. Farrant and Andie A. Hoshijo; (Kamuela Hawaii Preparatory Academy) Madison M. Inman; (La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls) Angela S. Assante; (Le Jardin Academy) Zoe T. Cook and Madeline St. John; (Makawao Seabury Hall) Celina Bekins, Michael A. Kalmeta, Carly O’Donnell, Fletcher L. Prouty, Ema B. Turner and Carter K. Umetsu; (Maryknoll High School) Shiqin Su; (Mid-Pacific Institute) Erin L. Carroll, Trace J. Sakima, Adam P. Simon and Hubert A. Szczgiel; (Mililani High School) Elizabeth A. Hamm and Viola Mocz; (Parker School) Lysha M. Matsunobu; (Pearl City High School) Kian R. Kobayashi; (Punahou School) Alexander Chai, Maxen Chung, Jennifer J. Ha, Jasmine Harris, Sophie E. Johnson, Taylor T. Lau, Noel D. Lee, Madelin N. Lum, Noemaikealohaiku‘ulei S. Lum, Sarah M. Matsunaga, Scott T. Meyer, Aidan J. Morita, Alyssa M. Morvis, Bryce D. Murley, Albert M. Pleus, Emily E. Ratte, Holt A. Sakai, Katherine S. Seth, Michelle J. Tsai, James D. Umphress, Anna Winnicki and Jade Y. Woo; (Roosevelt High School) Gillian M. Desmond; (Sacred Hearts Academy High School) Nadia D. Busekrus; and (home school) Michael L. Main.
Nationwide about 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Three types of National Merit scholarships will be offered. They include 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships awarded on a state representational basis; about 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit scholarship awards provided by some 240 corporations and business organizations; and some 4,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards offered by about 200 colleges and universities.
