A total of 169 Arkansas high school seniors are among some 16,000 students nationally to be recently named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
The students will now compete for some 7,250 scholarships worth $28 million to be offered next spring.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a not-for-profit organization which was established in 1955, operates without government assistance. Scholarships are underwritten by the corporation with its own funds and by approximately 340 business organizations and higher education institutions.
High school juniors entered the 2023 scholarship program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors. It includes 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.
The Northwest Arkansas semifinalists listed alphabetically by city and schools are:
Bentonville
Arkansas Connections Academy: Zephi A. Biddle.
Bentonville High: Douglas M. Bingham, Siridean C. Clark, Kaitlin E. Deans, Aniket Gupta, Alton J. Holscher, Sindhuja L.Kudapa, Anish R.Leekkala, Aryan Mahajan, Brett J. Miller, Katherine G.Pearce, Rohith Ratheesh, Wyatt E. Rice, Morgan L. Schaefer, Lola K. Sommer, Akshaj Tadiparthi, Muskan S. Taori, Dinesh T. Vasireddy.
Founders Classical Academy: Elise C. Looney.
Haas Hall Academy: Eekshita T. Allipilli, Chase A. Alvarado, Ahilan Eraniyan, Farheen Palagiri, Sriya V. Puvvada.
Homeschool: John S. Sooter.
Booneville
Booneville High: Lucas A. Deltedesco.
Centerton
Bentonville West High: Lauren N. Jackson, Farah F. Khalil Ahamed, Elisabeth G. Macy.
Life Way Christian School: Asa R. Fowler.
Fayetteville
Fayetteville High: Salvador Barraza Del-Barco, Cameron B. Caston, Alan Chen, Karen A. Di, Kenja L. Dresel, Le J. Fu, Thomas Fuson Kennedy, Sofia G.Hennigan, Benjamin B. Jacobus, Nathan C. McMath, Maren G. Park, Taksh Y. Patel, Jennifer C. Petrone, Irene Y. Raich, Lillian L. Robinson, Huck W. Schremmer.
Haas Hall Academy: Jacob A. Bodishbaugh, Leena Cashman, Melody R.Mathis, Sohan S. Prabhudesai, Natalie K. Waggoner, Hannah A. Willroth, Philip X.Wu.
Fort Smith
Southside High: Myles P. Flanders, Lucas M. Jackson, Eshal Z. Khan, Jackson G. Miller, Tu M. Nguyen, Zain J. Rana, David Rotaru.
Greenwood
Greenwood High: David Ambriz, Lilly M. Williams, Lucas B. Wittig.
Harrison
Harrison High Conversion Charter School: Rylee G. Myers.
Rogers
Arkansas Arts Academy: Jackson W. White.
Haas Hall Academy: Parishee Bajaj, Hannah M.Crawford, Eli S. Elliott, Andrew R. Pleiman, Devlin P. Zamarron.
Providence Classical Christian Academy: Stephen B. Roberts,
Rogers High: Ella J.Beeman, Zane A. Milam, Charles T. Zheng.
Rogers Heritage High: Taryn E. Harrison.
Springdale
Haas Hall Academy Jones Center: Cassidy J. Waide.
Har-Ber High: Sophia E. Barnes, Christian Z. Crockett, Knox E. Graham, Nathaniel C. Kingsbury, Maxwell McDonald, James P. Myers, Evan C. Paull, Lauryn C. Peters.
Homeschool: Kyla L. Cross.
Ozark Catholic Academy: Mia Passantino.
Shiloh Christian School: Sage D. Paschall.
Springdale School Of Innovation: Eli Wetzel.
Valley Springs
Valley Springs High: Dason L . Hensley, Christopher L. Vail.