Twelve seniors in the Issaquah School District were recognized in September as semifinalists in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. They join a national pool of about 15,000 students, which represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, who became semifinalists by being the top scorers on the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

These seniors now have the opportunity to continue in the competition to compete for 8,200 scholarships from colleges and corporate sponsors, worth a combined $36 million, that will be offered next spring. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must submit evidence of an outstanding academic and civic record in high school, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier test performance.

Scholarships are awarded to finalists based on their skill, accomplishments, and potential for success in college studies. Winners will be announced in four waves beginning next April and ending in July.

For the first time, all sophomores and juniors in the Issaquah School District will have the opportunity in October 2009 to take the PSAT/NMSQT® during the school day in order to prepare them for the SAT and focus all students on post-high school education.

Issaquah’s 2010 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists are:

* Gretchen E. Allen, Issaquah High

* Emily C. Baer, Skyline

* John B. Gerlach, Skyline

* Ariel U. Goh, Skyline

* Hayley E. Grandine, Liberty

* Spencer R. Hildie, Issaquah High

* Ariel C. Jacoby, Issaquah High

* Kevin W. Lee, Issaquah High

* Tiffany W. Lim, Issaquah High

* Helen L. Liu, Issaquah High

* Derrik F. Petrin, Skyline

* Evan J. Shieh, Skyline