57 Hawaii students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists
Sep. 24—A total of 57 Hawaii high school seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, placing them among about 16,000 high-scoring students nationally who will be eligible for nearly $28 million in scholarships to be offered next spring.
The Hawaii seniors come from 15 high schools, with one home-schooled student, according to the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corp., which announced the semifinalists earlier this month.
NMSC said over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last fall. The semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, including the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level, including completing a detailed application and writing an essay.
NMSC officials said about 90% of the semifinalists are expected to become finalists, which will make them eligible for three types of National Merit Scholarships being offered in spring 2021. The Hawaii semifinalists are:
Waiakea High
>> Beatrice Kim-Lee
'Iolani School
>> Raine Z. Cheng
>> Owen I. Ching
>> Susan R. Flatt
>> Grace E. Fujii
>> Chase P. Graham
>> Noelani M. Hiltner
>> Yijia Jiang
>> Diyora Kamilova
>> Cole T. Kaneshiro
>> Michael X. Kostecki
>> Euodia Lan
>> Jayne T. Lau
>> Jacob K. Lee
>> Justin Y. Lu
>> Elle S. Mizue
>> Rumaysha M. Momen
>> Grant K. Sung
>> James T. Wu
Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama
>> Travis Kuo
>> Avery Nakata
Mid-Pacific Institute
>> Jackson L. Ibarra
Moanalua High
>> Xavier Leung
Punahou School
>> Gabriel D. Canevari
>> Conrad C. Cao
>> Esther K. Chan
>> Narissa K. Chen
>> Ojoo Choi
>> Maxwell R. Chun
>> Connor S. Davidson
>> Gabriela T. Ewart
>> Reina H. Gammarino
>> Athena W. He
>> Akira A. Iwata
>> Deacon P. Lajala
>> Chasen T. Matsuoka
>> Brennan H. Nakata
>> Henry S. Reppun
>> Cora T. Saito
>> Nicholas K. Sharawy
>> Maria A. Weldon
>> Elise K. Wong
>> Iris Z. Xu
>> Irene J. Zhong
>> Ivey J. Zhong
Radford High
>> Jason A. Harwood
Roosevelt High
>> Akira R. Lux
University Laboratory School
>> Joshua Z. Li
Kalaheo High
>> Oliver M. Upton
Kealakehe High
>> Maile-Lei Ji
Kihei Charter High
>> Tanya V. Kari
Seabury Hall
>> Dean Tapler
Mililani High
>> Michael D. Chan
>> Cassidy M. Ibanez
>> Michael M. Roberts
Baldwin High
>> Anica J. Ancheta
Home school
>> Keenan Nakamura
