Parker seniors named National Merit semifinalists

Parker seniors named National Merit semifinalists

Parker seniors named National Merit semifinalists

Parker School seniors Paul Gregg and Aidan Wharton have been selected as semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Gregg and Wharton, from a senior class of just 28 students, are two of the three semi-finalists selected this year from the Big Island, and two of the 16,000 national semi-finalists out of the 50,000 highest scorers of the approximately 1.5 million high school students who take the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test) each year.

If they advance to finalist standing, they will find out in March if they are in the group of approximately 8,300 winners of a National Merit Scholarship Award. The awards range from a $2,500 lump sum scholarship, to corporate-sponsored and college-sponsored scholarships.

In the last three years, Parker School has boasted six National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. Last year, Parker’s Kieran Najita was selected and advanced to win a Merit Scholarship Award.