Ben Thrasher named a 2022 National Merit FINALIST!
Thrasher joins three recent WHS alumni named among nation's academic elite; announces plan to enroll @ Texas A&M
CONGRATULATIONS Ben Thrasher: named a National Merit Scholarship FINALIST! The National Merit Scholarship Corporation made the announcement last week, and Wahoo High School again celebrates one of its seniors honored among the nation's academic elite. Thrasher is Wahoo's third NMS Finalist in five years (fourth semifinalist), and will be awarded his scholarship later this spring. He has announced that he will attend the Texas A&M University next year.
"Ben continues to prove that hard work and dedication pay off!" commented WHS School Counselor John Harris. "His understanding of the importance of a quality education and his commitment to fully preparing for opportunities like the ACT test put him in a position to be nationally recognized. Being a National Merit Scholarship winner can be a game-changer for students. I am proud to have been a small part of Ben’s educational journey and I certainly look forward to watching Ben as he begins his postsecondary learning at Texas A&M University."
Congratulations again, Ben, on this well-deserved honor!
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Congratulations WHS senior Ben Thrasher on being named a 2022 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist! Thrasher is the fourth WHS student in five years to earn this honor.
Ben Thrasher named a 2022 National Merit Semifinalist! (posted September 20, 2021)
Thrasher is fourth WHS senior in five years named among nation's academic elite; advances to finalist competition
The good news just keeps coming regarding National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and Wahoo High School students!
Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.
Wahoo High School senior Ben Thrasher has been named a 2022 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.
In four of the last five years, a WHS senior has been named a National Merit Semifinalist. Caleb Groff (Class of 2018), Anna Dobesh (Class of 2019), and Alex Tomjack (Class of 2020) were also named semifinalists. Both Dobesh and Tomjack were later named finalists.
“The students who have been recognized in this competition have worked hard throughout their years at Wahoo High School to be the best students they could possibly be. These honors don’t just happen by luck. Ben and the others have put in countless hours of studying to prepare for situations like this. I am super happy that he has been recognized in this way,” says John Harris, school counselor at Wahoo High School.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools 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 a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2022. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 220 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2022 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 345,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
Wahoo High School and the Wahoo Public Schools community are very proud of Ben Thrasher and wish him well as he continues on in this competition!
