Dozens of high school students across Johnson County have placed as semifinalists for the prestigious National Merit Scholarship.
In September, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced its list of semifinalists, comprising students from schools in Johnson County who could go on to earn National Merit scholarships for 2026.
Finalists will be announced in the spring
- Each student earned a semifinalist spot based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) test.
- Roughly 6,930 scholarships will be offered to the finalists in the spring, amounting to roughly $26 million.
- Finalists will be chosen based on a number of academic metrics, such as test scores, academic records and level of difficulty of subjects studied.
- The number of scholarship winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
Blue Valley Schools had the most semifinalists in Kansas
- A total of 51 high school seniors from the Blue Valley School District made the semifinalists list.
- The Olathe Public Schools had 19 semifinalists, all seniors as well.
- The Shawnee Mission School District and USD 232 in De Soto each had six semifinalists this year.
- Gardner Edgerton School District raked in a couple of semifinalists as well.
- A handful of students at private schools in Johnson County were also named semifinalists.
- Roughly 16,000 students across the country were named semifinalists, and 15,000 will make it to the finalist level, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Finalists will be notified in February 2026.
Blue Valley Schools
Blue Valley High
- Rohan Enjeti
- Noah Everest
- Brooke Gunter
- Genevieve Peterson
- Ainesh Tallapragada
- Brady Walworth
Blue Valley North
- Hanny Batrash
- Dilsha Chebolu
- Matthew Chen
- Cale Fulcher
- Abhinav Kambhampati
- Kilderry R. Kupper
- Etina Roelofs
- Hyein Song
Blue Valley Northwest
- Naasif Ahmed
- Sumlina Alam
- Melinda Cornwell
- Alexander Davis
- Arthur Dunavan
- Andrew Golden
- William Golden
- Kevin Jiao
- Rowan Juhl
- Caroline Lee
- Jethro Tang
- Matt Wu
Blue Valley Southwest
- Zayna Ahmed
- Alexis Chang
- Daniel Chang
- Charles Collins
- Devika Krishna
- Eli Mick
- Ethan Steiner
- Derek Townsend
- Truett Van Slyke
- Dane Weninger
Blue Valley West
- Neil Agarwal
- Ananya Agrawal
- Aarya Anjankar
- Nithin Dheepak
- Eric Du
- Abhinavraj Eda
- Anika Goyal
- Ria Jaiswal
- Aleezay Khan
- Andrey Lyeshchenko
- Anvita Rayabarapu
- Jessica Sun
- Ella Wallace
- Peyton Wallace
- Grace Wang
Shawnee Mission School District
Shawnee Mission West
- Brendan S. Hunn
- Nathan T. Mestel
Shawnee Mission East
- Willam Barcus
- Adeline Clifford
- Micah Kirchoff
Shawnee Mission South
- Alyssa Walker
USD 232 in De Soto
Mill Valley High
- Rachel Joseph
- Nathan Turvey
- Ian Weatherman
De Soto High
- Josiah D. Bunselmeyer
- You-Ha Kim
- Dan Newland
Olathe School District
Olathe East High
- Elijah Humble
- Jack Kennedy
Olathe North High
- Katherine Chang
- Alexander Hanisch
- Drake Heimsoth
- Aiden Johnson
- Arshika Sri Kanna
- Arielle Li
- Garrett Li
- Dominic Marroquin
- Bennett Morris
- Hrithik Ranganathan
- Gavin Winsor
Olathe Northwest High
- Samantha Fuller
- Brady Uden
Olathe South High
- Nicholas Hammond
- Jack Muder
Olathe West High
- Hayden Renoux
- Aiden Strohm
Gardner Edgerton School District
Gardner Edgerton High School
- Brayden Crowder
- Jude Meili
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
St. James Academy
- Reece Childress
- Leah Haeusser
- Andrew Rickert
St. Thomas Aquinas High School
- Alex S. Henderson
Non-denominational Christian school
Maranatha Christian Academy
- Andrew Crainshaw
Homeschool / online school
- Jonathan L. King, of Overland Park
- Emma Ryan, of Lenexa
Thanks for reading! If you value having an independent news outlet keeping tabs on local government, schools and taxes, we're asking you to contribute to our Education Reporting Fund.
