Paris seniors named Merit semifinalists | News

The semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for more than 7,000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.

The two PHS seniors earning the semifinalist status were given their certificates of recognition by high school Principal Chris Vaughn recently.

De la Garza, the son of Dr. David De la Garza and Jennifer De la Garza, is currently ranked first in the 2024 PHS graduating class and scored 225 on his qualifying test.

He has received numerous awards in UIL, including placing third in the UIL State 4A science team competition. He also advanced to Regionals this past year in UIL math, number sense and calculator.

For the past two years, he has been a drum major for the PHS Blue Blazes band.

He holds the current school record for the 200 freestyle in swimming. He placed fourth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle at the 4A State swim competition this past year.

De la Garza is also a member of the Robotics team, Future Problem Solving, Student Council, Kiwanis Key Club and National Honor Society.

Thompson, the son of Dr. Gregory Thompson and Tracy Thompson, is currently ranked second in the 2024 PHS graduating class and scored 221 on his qualifying test and received a perfect score on the ACT.

He is a member of the science and mathematics UIL teams, where he placed third in the UIL State 4A science team with De la Garza. He also competed at the state level as an individual in UIL computer science and science, earning a fourth place medal in science.

He participates in Skills USA in Robotics and is a member of the VEX/VRC Robotics team that qualified for the world competitions this past year.

He is a member of Future Problem Solving, where his team advanced at the international level the past three years, placing tenth this past year. For the past three years, he has made the All-Region band and Area band this past year. Thompson is also a member of the Student Council, National Honor Society and Kiwanis Key Club, where he holds leadership roles.

Both the semifinalists received national recognition as an AP Scholar and a National Rural and Small Town Award.

Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

The selection process began when more than 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, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. A semifinalist 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.

From over 16,000 semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation.

All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 320 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.