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2009 Grad Ian Hoppe Named Next WHS National Merit Scholar

Hoppe Joins 5 Previous Students for Prestigious Honor Award

NMSC Press Release on June 12, 2009

Ian Hoppe, WHS Class of 2009

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Ian Hoppe, WHS Class of 2009

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently named Ian Hoppe, a 2009 graduate of Wahoo High School, as a recipient of two scholarships in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. The Merit Scholar® designees were chosen from a talent pool of approximately 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program.

To select scholarship winners, a committee of educators appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay describing interests and goals; and the recommendation written by a high school official. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of the nation's high school graduating seniors.

On May 6, NMSC announced Hoppe as one of 2,500 distinguished high school seniors who won a National Merit $2500 Scholarship. Winners were the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. These Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

On May 27, he was announced as one of 2,800 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among Finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. Hoppe was awarded $2,000 annually by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution. In addition to this National Merit stipend, UNL awards its National Merit scholars full tuition scholarships for their undergraduate study.

This year's competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2007 when more than 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the state's seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state representational basis. Only the 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the nationwide competition.

Hoppe joins five previous Wahoo High School graduates as National Merit Scholars. According to NMSC, since the inception of the program in 1955, Wahoo High has graduated Merit Scholars in 1970, 1979 (2), 1986, 1998 and 2009.

Ian is the son of Weldon and Paula Hoppe of Colon and he plans to pursue a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife at UNL this fall.