The annual list of National Merit semifinalists — a who’s who of talented high school seniors — is out.
And 114 Nebraska students are on it.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp. on Wednesday announced the names of nearly 16,000 semifinalists nationwide.
The students have an opportunity to continue in the competition for more than $31 million in scholarships to be offered next spring.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
The students entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of applicants. The semifinalists represent the highest-scoring students in the state.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.
Scholarship winners will be announced next spring and summer.
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BELLEVUE
Home School
Terneus, Ambrose J.
BLAIR
Blair High School
Funk, Ethan J.
BRAINARD
East Butler High
Christensen, Sydney E.
COLUMBUS
Scotus Central Catholic High
VunCannon, Drew K.
ELKHORN
Elkhorn High
Hudson, Daniel L.
McCaslin, Anna K.
VanWyngarden, Madison L.
Elkhorn South High
Eischeid, Alexander C.
Evans, Skyler J.
Kawa, Eliza K.
Kim, Eugene H.
Madden, Derek A.
Oarhe, Joshua O.
Patterson, Julia A.
Sturdivant, Dylan J.
Swartzbaugh, Carson A.
Home School
Burbach, Emma J.
Mount Michael Benedictine High
Gathje, Jacob A.
Potuhera, Tharein S.
Schrier, Alexander R.
Whitaker, Brayden M.
FIRTH
Norris High
DeBoer, Hunter J.
Savage, Jackson W.
FREMONT
Fremont High
Sasse, Elizabeth C.
GRAND ISLAND
Grand Island Central Catholic High
Kim, Randall E.
Grand Island Senior High
Kosmicki, Jacob D.
HASTINGS
Hastings High
Power, Landon C.
Wenburg, Carter L.
St. Cecilia High
Moritz, Carson T.
KEARNEY
Kearney Catholic High
Messbarger, Nicole M.
LINCOLN
Lincoln East High
Chapin, Dylan A.
Imig, Brandon
Matthes, Celeste C.
Lincoln High
Borlak, Ariana L.
Krohn, Esme M.
Moberly, Luke M.
Schmaderer, Benjamin J.
Lincoln North Star High
MacFarlane, Andrew H.
Lincoln Southeast High
Farritor, Luke E.
Goldsmith, Timothy J.
Lincoln Southwest High
Callahan, Blake M.
Fulton, Evan
Gessert, Ingrid
Hobelman, Alexis
Johnson, Tatum I.
Phung, Tuong T.
Svoboda, Jordyn D.
Pius X High
Driewer, Grace A.
Kotopka, Andrew C.
Tomes, Luke D.
NEBRASKA CITY
Lourdes Central High
Partsch, Luke D.
NELIGH
Neligh-Oakdale School
Bixler, Hailey E.
OMAHA
Brownell-Talbot School
Haas, Lily C.
Liu, Brianna S.
Luo, Allison
Miles, Luke W.
Su, Benjamin K.
Central High
Cheloha, Sedona L.
Flynn, Carly R.
Seger-Pera, Eric
Creighton Prep
Boever, Joseph W.
Chapman, Richard J.
Curd, Tristan M.
Drvol, Henry C.
Kenney, Ryan W.
Kramer, Joshua N.
Loeffler, Samuel M.
Mandolfo, Mason
Owens, Paul M.
Woods, Eric S.
Duchesne Academy
Drews, Mary M.
Fleming, Victoria L.
Kreis, Raleigh L.
Schartz, Emma I.
Marian High School
McWilliams, Tayla L.
Millard North High
Agarwal, Aanya
Guo, Liyang
Jolley, Evan J.
Kota, Santosh
Mudhelli, Shivani
Parmley, Ian J.
Pullabhotla, Anjali
Ramini, Lahari
Thakker, Juhi J.
Tu, Lucy
Whetstine, Elaine M.
Wright, Rebecca A.
Millard South High
Nguyen, Vivian N.
Pokharel, Hannah R.
Millard West High
Munson, Reese E.
Naganna, Aditya
Rieke, Katarina A.
Omaha North High
Kehr, Sage E.
Skutt Catholic High
Brockhouse, Julia A.
Schmitt, Jenna E.
Westside High
Battafarano, Malia G.
France, Cynthia Z.
Jansen, Theodore F.
Johanningsmeier, Andrew S.
Pike, Reese C.
Siegel, Joshua B.
PAPILLION
Papillion-La Vista High
Fjeldsted, Braxton A.
Lin, Vincent
Papillion-La Vista South High
Lauver, Nicholas C.
PIERCE
Pierce High
McKeown, Alex S.
SCOTTSBLUFF
Scottsbluff High
Reisig, Katherine G.
SEWARD
Seward High
Lobmeyer, Madalyn G.
SPRINGFIELD
Platteview High
Dierking, Sylvia M.
Grosz, Kiyara R.
WAHOO
Wahoo High
Tomjack, Alex M.
WAVERLY
Waverly High
Kasparek, Lauren E.
WEST POINT
Central Catholic High
Wooldrik, Anna M.
YORK
York High
Gilliland, Alyssa M.
Stuckey, Lindsey
Omaha-area high schools ranked by 2018 ACT scores
We collected 2018 ACT scores from 19 of the biggest schools in the Omaha area. Take a look to see if your school is on the list and where it fell.
Omaha Catholic schools: 24.7
The World-Herald was not able to verify composite ACT scores for Creighton Prep and Marian high schools. The composite ACT score of the graduating class of 2018 for the entire Omaha Archdiocese was 24.7.Â
Elkhorn South High School: 24.6.Â
Millard West High School: 23.3.Â
Elkhorn High School: 23.Â
Gretna High School: 22.8.Â
Millard North High School: 22.6.Â
Westside High School: 21.5.Â
Papillion-La Vista South High School: 21.1.Â
Papillion-La Vista High School: 21.Â
Millard South High School: 20.4.
Bellevue West High School: 20.4.
Bellevue East High School: 19.5.
Central High School: 19.1.
Omaha Burke High School: 18.8.
Omaha North High School: 17.9.
Omaha South High School: 16.1.
Omaha Bryan High School: 15.4.
Omaha Northwest High School: 15.
Benson High School: 14.9.
The correlation between a school’s poverty rate and test scores is evident, a World-Herald analysis found.
High schools in the Omaha Public Schools with high poverty scored low. Suburban schools with low poverty scored better.
For example, Elkhorn South High School scored highest with a 24.6; its poverty rate is 3.6 percent. The lowest score was Benson at 14.9; that school's poverty rate is 86.5 percent.
Read The World-Herald's breakdown of Omaha schools' ACT scores here.
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