September 11, 2024 — 23 Vestavia Hills High School seniors are now National Merit Semifinalists — the most at any high school in Alabama and the most at the school in nearly two decades.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced its 70th annual list of National Merit Semifinalists today. Semifinalists at Vestavia Hills High School include (as shown in photograph):
Front row, L–R: Tashfin Abdullah, Terence Li, Kendall Feild, Caroline Tyndall, Madeline Crawford, Mengzhen Wang, Andrew Sheng, Ali Fathallah-Shaykh
Middle row, L–R: Allison Xie, Cuewon Kim, Timothy Li, Logan Hawley, Bryan Zhang, Ishaan Singh, Ethan Melenevsky
Back row, L–R: Nicholas Snow, John Pickett, Logan Gregory, Jack Cobb, Parker Liu, Ishaan Garg, Chase Kaiser
Not pictured: Levi Griem
The 23 National Merit Semifinalists represent the largest number of Semifinalists from any individual high school in Alabama this year, according to a release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. It’s the largest group of Semifinalists from VHHS since 2006, when the school had 24 Semifinalists.
The students are among 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide who will have the opportunity to compete for some $26 million in scholarships, according to the National Merit release. The students entered this year’s competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of high school seniors in the United States.
“Our entire VHHS family congratulates our National Merit Semifinalists. This outstanding accomplishment not only showcases their hard work, but also embodies our core values of respect, excellence, and service,” Vestavia Hills High School principal Blair Inabinet said today. “These stellar students have respected the value of their education, pursued excellence in their studies, and served as role models to their peers. This achievement celebrates their dedication and represents a milestone on their journey to continued success.”
National Merit Finalists will be announced in the spring of 2025.
