Article updated to add photos, 6:21 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16:
A dozen students of Douglas County high schools have earned the prestigious title of National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, according to a news release from the organization.
Here’s how it works, according to the release: “High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 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 number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.”
To become finalists, the semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, and their SAT or ACT scores must “confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.” They have an opportunity to compete for about 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million that will be offered next spring, according to the release.
According to the list provided by the program, the following students of Douglas County schools made the cut:
Eudora High School: Eliana S. Isenburg
Free State High School: Hannah M. De Guzman; Isabella N. Evans; Chaney M. Finkeldei; Ari E. Karman; Jared M. Loos; Cortlyn L. Ruckman; Blake J. Sanders; Mary Katherine G. Shultz; and Anand J. Singh
Lawrence High School: Eva E. Ackley and Elijah J. Paden
Mary Kate Shultz 
Jared Loos 
Isa Evans 
Cortlyn Ruckman 
Elijah Paden 
Eva Ackley 
Hannah De Guzman 
Chaney Finkeldei 
Blake Sanders 
Ari Karman 
Anand Singh 
Awaiting photo!
Photos: All but Sanders (and the Eudora Cardinal) by Emma Fotovich / USD 497
