Six Seniors Honored as National Merit Semifinalists
Pictured, left to right, and Roosevelt’s Alicia Rus, Elliott Albright, Jonah Cornelisse and Harrison Webster along with Lincoln’s Maximillian Roach and Liam Miller.
Six high school seniors – two from Lincoln and four from Roosevelt – have been named as Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. It is one of the top academic recognitions for high school seniors in the United States. All six DMPS students also attend Central Academy. National Merit Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
The honorees are:
- Elliott Albright – Roosevelt
- Jonah Cornelisse – Roosevelt
- Liam Miller – Lincoln
- Maximillian Roach – Lincoln
- Alicia Rus – Roosevelt
- Harrison Webster – Roosevelt
“Being recognized as a National Merit semifinalist is a great honor, recognizing both the scholarly achievements and potential of these outstanding students,” said Dr. Ian Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. “We are very proud of them for what they have achieved as well as of our terrific educators at DMPS who supported them on their academic journeys”
Over the past 70 years, nearly 600 DMPS seniors have been recognized as Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Officials at the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than 16,000 Semi-Finalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship 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.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), 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. For more information, visit the National Merit Scholarship website.
