Andrea Johnson, Erin Niederberger, and Collin Winans are the North Kansas City High School students who have qualified as Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

“It’s exciting and an honor to be named a semifinalist. I can’t wait to see where it leads,” Johnson said.

The candidates were notified by Mrs. Martha DeVries, IB counselor.

“I was excited. It means that I go on and take the SAT and progress toward the National Merit Finalist stage,” Winans said.

Roughly 16,000 students nationwide reached this level in the competition, achieving it by scoring at or above a specific score on the PSAT test they took their junior year of high school. Semifinalists must then complete an application, due in October.

“I wasn’t thrilled about filling out more applications, but I’m glad I had the honor of being selected,” Niederberger said.

Next February, roughly 15,000 students in the nation will advance to Finalist standing. 8,300 Finalists will be awarded with merit scholarship awards.