Sixteen Hoover students among National Merit Semifinalists

A group of seven Hoover High students and nine Spain Park High students were recently named 2018 National Merit Semifinalists, joining approximately 16,000 other high school seniors in receiving this honor.

The Hoover semifinalists are Rishik Hombal, Andy Kong, Austin Blanton, Conor Flannelly, Emily Su, Areebah Nur and Sydney Biswal. The Spain Park honorees are Katherine Voorhees, Katherine Turnbull, Woody Shin, William Lamb, Ryan Smith, Reece Eberhardt, Elijah McKinley, Madison Todd and Jennifer Spell.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, who qualiry based on scores on the PSAT/NMSQT. About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program.

These students can compete for finalist status and scholarships by submitting SAT scores, academic and community involvement records, official recommendations and an essay. About 15,000 students will be chosen as finalists, and 7,500 National Merit Scholarships will be awarded.

Submitted by Hoover City Schools.