De Soto High School senior You-Ha Kim and Mill Valley High School seniors Rachel Joseph, Nathan Turvey, and Ian Weatherman were named as Finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are among the top 95% of Semifinalists to earn this designation and represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.

To become a National Merit® Scholarship Finalist, each Semifinalist was required to provide information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. Semifinalists also had to submit a recommendation from a high school official and write a personal essay.

Approximately 6,870 of the more than 15,000 Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of Merit Scholar. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will begin notifying winners in March.

Three types of scholarship awards are offered to Finalists:

• 2,500 Finalists will receive a National Merit $2500 Scholarship
• About 830 Finalists will receive corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
• About 3,600 Finalists will receive college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards

Scholarship winners will join more than 389,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

Congratulations to these outstanding USD 232 students!