Twenty-two Mason High School students were recently named  National Merit Finalists: Victoria Berry, Xindi Chen, Sneha Gundavarpu, Tanvi Jagtap, Aditya Jog, Mihir Kotian, Matthew Liao, Jose Martinez, Antonia Mordino, Zachary Oldham, Nihar Rama, Anamika Shah, Aditya Singh, Rujul Singh, Jessica Sommerville, Kayla Stroud, Dennis Sweeney, Sreeram Venkatarao, Oliver Voyten, Emily Wang, Jessica Wang, and Emily Zhao.  These students were chosen based on their SAT scores, having an outstanding academic record, their extracurricular and volunteer activities, being endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and a self-descriptive essay. All Finalists will receive a Certificate of Merit in recognition of their outstanding performance in the competition. Chosen finalists are in the top one-half percent — about 15,000 — of students nationwide.

MHS Principal Dave Hyatt congratulated the students for their accomplishment. “We’re extremely proud of these Mason High School students. These students are academically talented, yes, but they all also work very hard and their leadership makes our school better. They have made a huge impact on their teachers, on their classmates, and are poised to make a huge impact on the world.”

On October 25, 2016, the Mason City Schools Board of Education honored the schools’ 22 National Merit Semifinalists (who are all now Finalists), 34 National Merit Commended Scholars, and three Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars. Watch the videos highlighting the Commended Scholars, and Finalists’ future plans.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a prestigious academic competition for recognition and scholarship that began in 1955.  High school students enter the National Merit Program as juniors by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test --a test which serves as an initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants each year-- and by meeting additional program requirements.