Brief: Six Stillwater Area Students are Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists

Six Stillwater area students have been named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Four Stillwater Area High School students, Erik Eitzman, Peter Fleischman, Garret Ruh and Andrew Ylitalo, are among 16,000 high school students from across the country to receive this honor.

Also in the running, are Michael Douglass of St. Croix Prep and Jessica Shaklee, who is home-schooled.

Students qualify for the National Merit program by earning top scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The highest scoring entrants from each state are named semifinalists and go on to compete for thousands of dollars in scholarship money.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists must advance to finalist standing in the competition by completing the application process, obtaining letters of recommendation, and demonstrating high academic performance.

Finalists will be named in February.