Crary, Lyons honored as National Merit semifinalists

Two Putnam County students were recently announced as semifinalists for the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Greencastle High School's Casey Crary and North Putnam High School’s Ellis Lyons are among approximately 16,000 students who have an opportunity to advance in the competition for some 7,500 scholarships worth nearly $30 million which will be offered next spring.

High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a scholarship application in which they provide information about his or her academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. They must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

About 15,000 of the semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and they will be notified of this designation in February. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists.

The Nation Merit Scholarship Program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization established in 1955. Scholarships are underwritten with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions.