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Education

22 Gilbert seniors earn National Merit semifinalist honors

Posted 9/15/22

Gilbert produced 22 high school seniors who have been named class of 2023 semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program. 

The semifinalists named Wednesday in the 68th annual …

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Education

22 Gilbert seniors earn National Merit semifinalist honors

Posted

Gilbert produced 22 high school seniors who have been named class of 2023 semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program. 

The semifinalists named Wednesday in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship program attend eight public district schools — Campo Verde, Gilbert Classical Academy, Gilbert High, Highland, Higley, Mesquite, Perry and Williams Field, plus one charter school, American Leadership Academy. One student is homeschooled.  

The Gilbert students and the other 16,000 high school seniors who made it to the semifinals have a chance at 7,250 National Merit scholarships worth about $30 million awarded in spring 2023. 

Gilbert semifinalists are: 

  • Megan Bishop, Highland;  
  • Alexander Bumgarner, Gilbert Classical Academy;  
  • Lauren Christensen, Campo Verde;  
  • Joshua Cook, Highland;  
  • Mia Cruz, Gilbert Classical Academy;  
  • Charles Entley, Williams Field;  
  • Ethan Esquer, Highland;  
  • Hunter Fenn, Mesquite;  
  • Mason Gilliland, Highland;  
  • Sahir Jahan, Perry;  
  • Tyler Judd, Gilbert High;  
  • Connie Kang, Gilbert Classical Academy;  
  • Ethan Morgan, Higley;  
  • Arturo Pacheco, Gilbert Classical Academy;  
  • Tyler Quinones, Gilbert Classical Academy;   
  • Joshua Shunk, Perry;  
  • Blake Tillotson, Highland;  
  • Spencer Todd Pospisil, Higley;  
  • Zachary Wang, homeschool;  
  • Timothy Wright, Gilbert Classical Academy;  
  • Mark Zaldivar, American Leadership Academy;  
  • Zhibo Zhang, Gilbert Classical Academy. 

The Gilbert seniors and their National Merit peers represent fewer than 1% of students nationwide selected by program. 

About 390 Arizona high school seniors made it to the semifinals, an increase from last year when only 218 Arizona students qualified. 

Selection is based on the student’s academic record, school recommendation, extracurricular activities and score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. 

To advance to the finals, National Merit semifinalists must submit college applications, be endorsed by a high school faculty member, score highly enough on the SAT or ACT test and continue to maintain an excellent academic record. 

Most National Merit semifinalists are expected to continue to the finals, but only about 7,250 students nationwide will be awarded scholarships. 

Students will learn early next year if they have been selected as finalists, and winners will be announced between April and July 2023. 

Three types of scholarships are offered to National Merit winners. 

Students who are awarded the National Merit Scholarship receive $2,500 toward their freshman year of college, and 2,500 National Merit scholarships are to be awarded to the class of 2023. 

College-sponsored scholarships are four-year renewable awards of $500 to $2,000 per school year. The winner must attend the college that is dispersing the award, and about 4,000 awards are available to 2023 National Merit winners. 

Corporate-sponsored awards are the most generous and range from $500 to $10,000 for four years, or single-payment awards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. About 1,000 such scholarships are expected to be awarded to the class of 2023.