These Local High School Students Are National Merit Semifinalists

ST. CHARLES, IL -- Several local students have been selected as semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit Scholarship Corp. Wednesday announced the local seniors who were selected as semi-finalists, as well as the 16,000 total semi-finalists selected across the U.S. Of those high school seniors, 7,500 will be picked to receive a total of $31 million in scholarships, which will be announced next spring and summer.

Local semifinalists include:

• Neehar Shah, a St. Charles East High School student
• Kayla Villa, St. Charles East High student
• Ryan Wolfsmith, a St. Charles East High student
• Adrianna Bugliarello-Wondrich, a St. Charles North H.S. student
• Kaley Fulcher, a St. Charles North H.S. student
• Brigid Millette, a St. Charles North student

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Over 90 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, according to a news release.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 410 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence, according to a news release.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2019 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join some 338,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

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More via the National Merit Scholarship website

PHOTO VIA SHUTTERSTOCK