A total of 169 Arkansas high school seniors are among some 16,000 students nationally to be recently named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
The students will now compete for some 7,250 scholarships worth $28 million to be offered next spring.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1955, operates without government assistance. Scholarships are underwritten by corporation with its own funds and by approximately 340 business organizations and higher education institutions.
High school juniors entered the 2023 scholarship program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors. It 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.
The Arkansas semi-finalists listed alphabetically by city and schools are:
Arkadelphia
Arkadelphia High: Calvin R. Clardy.
Beebe
Beebe High: Brady A. McMullen.
Benton
Benton High: Elizabeth P. Armstrong, Morgan R. Calaway, Abigail E. Fogleman, Blair E. Francis, Trevor J. Tucker.
Bentonville
Arkansas Connections Academy: Zephi A. Biddle.
Bentonville High: Douglas M. Bingham, Siridean C.,Clark, Kaitlin E. Deans, Aniket Gupta, Alton J. Holscher, Sindhuja L.Kudapa, Anish R.Leekkala, Aryan Mahajan, Brett J. Miller, Katherine G.Pearce, RohithRatheesh, Wyatt E. Rice, Morgan L. Schaefer, Lola K. Sommer, Akshaj Tadiparthi, Muskan S. Taori, Dinesh T. Vasireddy.
Founders Classical Academy: Elise C. Looney.
Haas Hall Academy: Eekshita T. Allipilli, Chase A. Alvarado, Ahilan Eraniyan, Farheen Palagiri, Sriya V. Puvvada.
Homeschool: John S. Sooter.
Blytheville
KIPP Blytheville Collegiate High: Sameer Mittal.
Booneville
Booneville High: Lucas A. Deltedesco.
Bryant
Bryant High: Garrett A. Fuhrman, Deeya T. Rohant.
Cabot
Cabot High: Alexis M. Childs, Carly E. Madar, Emma G. Martin, Robert K. Ringgold, Nathan Thurman.
Centerton
Bentonville West High: Lauren N. Jackson, Farah F. Khalil Ahamed, Elisabeth G. Macy.
Life Way Christian School: Asa R. Fowler.
Conway
Conway Christian High: Joseph Geaney.
Conway High: Ella G. Boudrie, Bryan T. Crockett, Hugh J. Hill, Antonio J. Jimenez, Emily C. Schluterman.
El Dorado
El Dorado High: Kieran C. Obiozo, John R. Stipp-Bethune.
Fayetteville
Fayetteville High: Salvador Barraza Del-Barco, Cameron B. Caston, Alan Chen, Karen A. Di, Kenja L. Dresel, Le J. Fu, Thomas Fuson Kennedy, Sofia G.Hennigan, Benjamin B. Jacobus, Nathan C. McMath, Maren G. Park, Taksh Y. Patel, Jennifer C. Petrone, Irene Y. Raich, Lillian L. Robinson, Huck W. Schremmer.
Haas Hall Academy: Jacob A. Bodishbaugh, Leena Cashman, Melody R.Mathis, Sohan S. Prabhudesai, Natalie K. Waggoner, Hannah A. Willroth, Philip X.Wu.
Fort Smith
Southside High: Myles P. Flanders, Lucas M. Jackson, Eshal Z. Khan, Jackson G. Miller, Tu M. Nguyen, Zain J. Rana, David Rotaru.
Greenwood
Greenwood High: David Ambriz, Lilly M. Williams, Lucas B. Wittig.
Harrison
Harrison High Conversion Charter School: Rylee G. Myers.
Hot Springs
Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts: Eliana M. Adamos, Robert F. Boerwinkle, Mason H. Cooper, Savanna L. Duey, Connor E. Helms, Cecil Mitchell, Charis Xiong.
Fountain Lake High: Tristan C. Wendel.
Homeschool: Sophia A. Wright.
Lakeside High: Benjamin L. Hollis.
Jonesboro
The Academies at Jonesboro High: Connor Dow, Kira A. Rich.
Valley View High: Jackson C. Wilson.
Little Rock
Catholic High for Boys: Andrew S. Dillman, Owen C. Fraley, Mason A. Walsh.
Central High: Adam Ahmad, Jessica Doss, Alison S. Finkbeiner, Ann Gao, Michelle Gong, Aaron C. Liu, Jaiadhi Sathish Kumar, Parag Sharma.
Estem High Charter School: Sean P. Ellis.
Episcopal Collegiate School: Emma G. Cooley, Jacob M. Cooley, Andrew T. Grumbles, Lotanna C. Mogb.
LISA Academy: Harlem J. Taylor.
Little Rock Christian Academy: Adison Halbert, Jenna Molleston.
Mount St. Mary Academy: Madeline Q. Dalton, Anya S. Ratycz.
Pulaski Academy: Alex N. Anka, Joshua A.Diaz, Trevor R. Duke, Jonathan B. Ford, Aybars Hacioglu, Charlotte R. Kuli, Mariam T. Parray, Maylee A. Rollins, Allen C. Thomason.
Joe T. Robinson High: Annabelle E. Ridlon,
North Little Rock
Central Arkansas Christian School: Riley O. Bryant, Yasmine F. Hekmatpour, Sarah P. Reaves.
LISA Academy North: Asher Cade Schroeder.
North Little Rock High: Liam K. Larsen.
Pearcy
Lake Hamilton High: Austin C. Barnes.
Rogers
Arkansas Arts Academy: Jackson W. White.
Haas Hall Academy: Parishee Bajaj, Hannah M.Crawford, Eli S. Elliott, Andrew R. Pleiman, Devlin P. Zamarron.
Providence Classical Christian Academy: Stephen B. Roberts,
Rogers High: Ella J.Beeman, Zane A. Milam, Charles T. Zheng,
Rogers Heritage High: Taryn E. Harrison.
Roland
Homeschool: Alison K. Giggleman.
Searcy
Harding Academy: Julia M. Murphy.
Searcy High: Gaby E. Sledge.
Sherwood
Sylvan Hills High in the Pulaski County Special School District: Daniel M. Griffin, Brooke Zermatten.
Springdale
Haas Hall Academy Jones Center: Cassidy J. Waide.
Har-Ber High: Sophia E. Barnes, Christian Z. Crockett, Knox E. Graham, Nathaniel C. Kingsbury, Maxwell McDonald, James P. Myers, Evan C. Paull, Lauryn C. Peters.
Homeschool: Kyla L. Cross.
Ozark Catholic Academy: Mia Passantino.
Shiloh Christian School: Sage D. Paschall.
Springdale School Of Innovation: Eli Wetzel.
Star City
Star City High: Tony Chen.
Valley Springs
Valley Springs High: Dason L . Hensley, Christopher L. Vail.