Four Niceville students are among 16,000 semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. The semifinalists are Hunter Brake, Stephanie Kaufman, and Diana LaFollette, juniors at Niceville High School, and Cailey Ness, a junior at Northwest Florida Collegiate High School.
A total of 7 Okaloosa high school juniors were named as semifinalists. The others attend Choctawhatchee High and Fort Walton Beach High.
The mission of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is to recognize and honor the academically talented students of the United States.
High school juniors must score in the top 50,000 on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in order to compete for scholarships.
Only about 50 percent of the finalists will earn the distinction of being named a National Merit Scholar.
