Officials with the National Merit Scholarship Corp. have named six students attending high schools in Aroostook County as semifinalists in the nationwide competition for some 7,500 scholarships worth more than $32 million to be awarded next spring.
The local area high school seniors are among 71 semifinalists from Maine and about 16,000 nationwide to advance in the competition operated by the privately funded, not-for-profit organization based in Evanston, Illinois.
About 1.6 million students in more than 22,000 high schools entered the competition by taking the qualifying test as juniors last year.
About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a national merit scholarship, according to the organization.
Semifinalists from County schools are:
Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Limestone — Brett E. Foster, Wyatt M. Giroux, Sophie Moore, and Abigail K. Raymond.
Presque Isle High School — Everett Zuras.
Central Aroostook High School, Mars Hill — Seth A. Hawksley.
