Local students in running for Merit Scholarships

Five North Idaho students are Merit Scholarship finalists and will soon find out if they will be awarded the prestigious scholastic honor.

The National Merit Scholarship Program recognizes high school seniors who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

More than 1.3 million students entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program last year. Over 16,000 semifinalists were announced in September and just over 15,000 students have advanced to finalist status. Finalists must have outstanding academic records throughout high school, be exceptional student leaders, receive endorsements and recommendations from school administrators, write essays and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm earlier performance on the qualifying test. 

Semifinalist and finalist status reflects the top 1% in the state.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships are being offered. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by roughly 160 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. About 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance about 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced beginning this month and will conclude in July. The first announcement is expected to go out April 24. Scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

Here are Kootenai County's finalists for the Merit Scholarship Program:

• Michael Bell, Classical Christian Academy

• Abigail Moehring, Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy

• Henry DePew, Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy

• Isabella Le, Coeur d'Alene High School

• Jameson Dale, Coeur d'Alene High School

    Moehring
  

    DePew
  

    Le
  

    Dale