Staff photo.
Mountain Brook High School has more semifinalists than any other high school in the state.
Sixteen Mountain Brook High School seniors have been named National Merit Semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are now among a pool of 16,000 students — representing less than 1% of all U.S. high school seniors — in contention to become National Merit Finalists.
Mountain Brook’s Semifinalists are listed below in alphabetical order:
- Matthew Bottcher
- Caroline Carwie
- Harry Evans
- Annya Evans-Martinez
- Teddy Feig
- Lilly Gilbert
- Sam Graham
- Ellie Hamilton
- Laurel Hand
- Emma Kao
- Ann Carlton Keller
- Emily King
- Fletcher Nunnelley
- Ethan Shunnarah
- Theo Simonton
- Catherine Taylor
“I am so proud of these students,” MBHS Principal Philip Holley said. “Becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is a great accomplishment and is the culmination of many years of hard work in the classroom.”
According to a National Merit Scholarship Corporation press release, more than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) last fall.
The number of semifinalists from each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. In Alabama, MBHS has more semifinalists than any other high school.
The school’s Semifinalists will now have the opportunity to complete an application to become a National Merit Finalist and contend for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million total.
Finalists will be announced in the spring.
Submitted by Sam Chandler, Mountain Brook Schools.
