National Merit Semifinalist The names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 50th annual National Merit Scholarship Program have been announced.  Erek Speed, son of Mary Speed, and Francisco Vieyra, son of Rosie Landeros & George Perez, have been named National Merit Semifinalists.

Erek, Francisco, and other scholastically talented high school seniors will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $32 million, that will be offered next spring.  To continue, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements and advance to Finalist standing, a prerequisite to being considered for a Merit Scholarship award. 

More than 1.3 million juniors in over 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2005 National Merit Program by taking the 2003 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served an initial screen of program entrants.  The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, is made u of 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.

To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have a record of very high academic performance, be endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance.  The Semifinalist and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student's self-descriptive essay and information about the Semifinalist's participation and leadership in school and community activities.  About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to fulfill all requirements to become Finalists.  Congratulations, Erek and Francisco!

McPherson Unified School District 418
514 N. Main
McPherson, KS 67460
620-241-9400
It is the policy of McPherson USD 418 not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race,
religion, color, age, or national origin in its educational programs and/or activities, nor in its employment practices.

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