by Lindsey Valdiviez

The administration formally announced the National Merit Scholar Semifinalists from the class of 2014 Sept. 11.  Seniors Abbey Haines, Katie Parkinson and Shelby Hawkins scored high enough on the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) to earn this recognition.

According to a release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, high school seniors across the country are honored “who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

Haines and Parkinson both said they took a class put on by math teacher Jo Weller and English teacher Kelly Fast to study for the PSAT.

According to Hawkins and Haines, after receiving their PSAT score reports they weren’t totally confident they had qualified to be Semifinalists until college counselor Debi Hudson notified them.

“Ms. Hudson called me into her office to let me know,” Hawkins said. “But I guess national merit has some kind of rules that you’re not supposed to publicize or let others know until the 11th, so I had to keep it a secret.”

Haines says that though she must apply to receive a finalist status, the scholarship would be rewarding. The application to become a finalist is similar to a college application, with personal essays and a required transcript.

“[Being a semifinalist] is pretty exciting because of the opportunities it opens up,” Haines said. “Now there’s more work to do to become a finalist, but hopefully it will pay off.”

According to Haines, the fact that three girls in the class of 2014 are semifinalists is an attestant to STA’s quality of education.

“I’m proud that STA has three and I’m sure tons of other girls had really high scores too,” Haines said. “I think it’s a good representation of our class and STA as a whole.”