Eight district seniors named National Merit Semifinalists

District seniors from Mesa, Mountain View, Red Mountain, Skyline and Westwood high schools have been named as semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program aims to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence by providing scholarship funds to outstanding students.

The district seniors named as semifinalists are:

Gabrielle Hodge from Mesa High

Spencer Knighton and Micaela Merrill from Mountain View High

Heather Jensen, Joshua Schomaker and Ethan Smith from Red Mountain High

Brian Lynch from Skyline High

Gordon He from Westwood High

These students have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

Less than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide are eligible, and over 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing. 

(Pictured: Top (L to R): Hodge, Knighton, Merrill, Jensen. Bottom (L to R): Schomaker, Smith, Lynch, He. Photos by Tim Hacker/Mesa Public Schools)

Information courtesy of National Merit Scholarship Corporation