Deerfield High School Senior Wins National Merit Cash Scholarship

DEERFIELD, IL — A Deerfield High School student was named Wednesday among the latest group of National Merit Scholars. The senior will receive a cash scholarship awarded directly by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Sophie Jean Henry, of Deerfield, intends to pursue a career involving history, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit.

Winners of the $2,500 scholarships were judged to possess the strongest combination of skills, accomplishments and potential to succeed in a challenging college environment, according to a release. They were selected by a committee comprised of college admissions officials and high school counselors from among the pool of more than 15,000 finalists.

There were 111 winners in Illinois among 2,500 Merit Scholars designated in the country. The number of winners in each state in proportional to the state's share of the nation's total number of graduating high school seniors, according to the NMSC.

Six Deerfield High School students were announced as National Merit semifinalists last year. Last month, National Merit announced more than 1,000 winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships. In June and July, it will announce the winners of 4,100 scholarships sponsored by colleges.

By the end of the 2018-19 school year, the organization said it would have awarded more than $31 million worth of scholarships to about 7,600 of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program.

Earlier: Six Deerfield Students Named National Merit Semifinalists