10 high school seniors from Springfield area named National Merit semifinalists

Note: Gretchen House is a senior at Chadwick High School. The name of her high school was wrong in an earlier version of this story. The National Merit Scholarship news release listed the high school where she took the qualifying test, not where she is enrolled.

Five high school seniors from Springfield have been named semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The semifinalists, announced Wednesday, are from Springfield Catholic High School and Central and Glendale high schools in Springfield Public Schools. They are:

• Margaret Duff, Springfield Catholic High
• Matteo Francis, Central High
• Grace Luo, Central High
• Emma Schrag, Glendale High
• Lilly Williams, Central High

Additionally, seniors at five Springfield area high schools were also named semifinalists. They are:

• Noah Blaine, Fordland High
• Colin Kuger, Stafford High
• Gretchen House, Chadwick High
• Braden Highfill, Spokane High
• Gabriel Wheeler, Ozark High

As semifinalists, the high school seniors are eligible to continue in the competition for an estimated 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered this spring.

About 95% of the semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist standing and half of those are expected to win a National Merit Scholarship.

More than 1.3 million juniors in 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The number of semifinalists in each state is based on the state's percentage of graduating seniors nationally.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must submit a detailed scholarship application that includes their academic record, school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards. They must be endorsed by a high school official and write an essay.

Three types of scholarships will be offered in the spring: $2,500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored merit scholarships and college-sponsored merit scholarships. The winners will be announced April through July.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 10 high school seniors from Springfield area named National Merit semifinalists