Twenty-three Edmond Public School seniors are among an elite group of high school seniors nationwide named Semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. The district has the second-highest number of 2021 Semifinalists in the state behind the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics.

The prestigious scholastic competition recognizes students for academic success in the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Edmond’s Semifinalists include four from Edmond Santa Fe High School, seven from Edmond North High School and 11 from Edmond Memorial High School.

“We congratulate these academically talented high school seniors and look forward to seeing what they will accomplish next,” said Superintendent Bret Towne.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

The names of Edmond’s National Merit Semifinalists are as follows:

Edmond Memorial High School:

Benjamin Asch

Harrison Booker

Jack Carter

Amber Chen

Haley Clark

John Every

Catherine Flores

Tyler Graham

Avery Morris

Danny Nguyen

Celina Zhao

Edmond North High School:

Joshua Dedmon

Joshua Hamilton

Nicole Karnig

Ethan Morgan

Ethan Ran

Alexander Steele

Harper Wood

Ethan Aldridge

Edmond Santa Fe High School: 

Nicolas Bost

Caleb Haymore

William Lawrence

Peter Samwel

Semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for millions of dollars in scholarships. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® award. Many colleges and universities, including the University of Oklahoma, offer comprehensive scholarships to students named Finalists which include tuition, housing, and study abroad opportunities.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, visit www.nationalmerit.org.