SM East leads district with 10 National Merit semifinalists

Ten of the 30 Shawnee Mission School District students who made the prestigious National Merit semifinalist list are students at Shawnee Mission East — which means the school produced more than 6 percent of the National Merit semifinalists in the entire state.

National Merit shortlisters are announced each year based on their performance on the pre-SAT test as high school juniors. The students now have the opportunity to become National Merit finalists and win scholarship money.

There were 160 National Merit semifinalists from Kansas this year, and no district produced more than Shawnee Mission. SM East’s semifinalists are:

Peter Bautz
Anna Bernard
Spencer Brown
Robert Kelly
Susan McClannahan
Kevin Simpson
Lauren Stanley
Gail Stonebarger
Emily Welter
Russell White