All four Broken Arrow High School National Merit semifinalists attain finalist standing
Two students also named U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalists
Launch the media gallery 1 playerAll four of Broken Arrow High School’s National Merit semifinalists were recently honored as finalists for their prestigious academic accomplishments.
Sydney Bennett, Emilee Fisher, Tanner Silver and Jennifer Vo are among approximately 16,000 students from across the nation who qualified and are some of the highest scoring students in the state of Oklahoma.
Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Program is a long-standing academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of nearly 1.5 million entrants each year.
From there, 34,000 students are commended and 16,000 semifinalists are chosen. Every year in February, 15,000 finalists are chosen based on their abilities, skills and accomplishments. From March to mid-June, approximately 8,000 students will be selected to receive a scholarship award, which includes National Merit Scholarships as well as corporate- and college-sponsored scholarships.
Additionally, Sydney Bennett and Emilee Fisher were also recently named as semifinalists for the U.S. Presidential Scholars award, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students, by the U.S. Department of Education.
From nearly 3.6 million graduating high school seniors from across the country, over 6,500 students were identified as candidates in the program. The 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars will be selected in mid-May.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.
For more information about either program, please visit www.nationalmerit.org or www2.ed.gov/programs/psp.