8 SM East students make National Merit Semifinalist list, leading district

Eight SM East seniors have made the annual National Merit Semifinalists list based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT test.

Sarah Goldman, Madison Hattaway, Max Hofmeister, Vannis Jones, Hudson Peters, Ingrid Starkey, Matthew Williamson and Elizabeth Wilson earned the distinction that gives them the opportunity to advance in a competition for more than $32 million in National Merit Scholarships.

A total of 21 Shawnee Mission district students made the list. Two were from SM North, three were from SM Northwest, five were from SM South and four were from SM West.

Of the 16,000 students who make the Semifinalist list nationally, approximately 15,000 are advance to the Finalist list. Last year, nine SM East students were named Semifinalists and all nine went on to make the FInalist list. In 2010, 10 SM East students made the Semifinalist list.