Eight Westminster Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Eight seniors at Westminster Christian Academy were recently honored as National Merit Semifinalists in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. It is the highest number of student Semifinalists in the school’s history.

These students were among approximately 1.5 million juniors nationwide to enter the 2016 scholarship program by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

These Westminster students are now eligible to advance to Finalist standing in the competition. Students are evaluated based on their academic record, school curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and a written essay.

Meeting these high academic standards may also qualify these students for a Merit Scholarship award to be applied towards college.

Photo: Noah Brink, assistant head of school-academics, Timothy Sell, Joseph Albertson, Sarah Ragsdale, Zachary Hughes, Sydney Thomas, Matthew Rush, Haley Weinberg, Alexander Hopkins, and Dr. Tom Stoner, head of school.