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26 PCS students named National Merit Semifinalists

Sept. 17, 2024

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced the semifinalists for the 2025 Scholarship Program.

Twenty-six Pinellas County Schools students have been named semifinalists for the program. The students will compete for National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $26 million. 

The high school students qualified for the scholarship program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). They represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. 

Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to be considered for Merit Scholarships® and advance to the finalist level of the competition. To become a finalist, each must submit a detailed scholarship application including their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. To become a finalist, the student must maintain an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The 2025 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. 

Congratulations to our Pinellas County Schools National Merit Semifinalists:

Countryside High: 

  • Alexander Briceno

East Lake High:

  • Nathan Dewahyu
  • Malcolm Dupuis
  • Nebrich, William
  • Aleesha S. Pierre
  • Dane M. Taylor 

Hollins High: 

  • Tobias A. Garcia
  • Aidan Ngo 

Lakewood High: 

  • Leland P. Kilborn
  • Lucas D. Restom Gaskill 

Largo High:

  • Grayson Burns
  • Patricia Crews
  • Ryan Jiang
  • Charles Oberlander
  • Kaitlyn Weise

Palm Harbor University High

  • Arshia Alipour
  • Nicholas Belongie
  • Katherine R. Currence
  • Spencer C. Dayton
  • Sophia K. de Koter
  • Anna S. Ling
  • Olivia Nguyen
  • Arina Pushnikova
  • Leonard Seto 

St. Petersburg High

  • Sage A. Summers

Tarpon Springs High

  • Hayden M. Smith