Simsbury Students Up For Major Academic Award

SIMSBURY, CT — Officials with a major national scholarship program have announced its list of semifinalists from the Class of 2026, with high school seniors from Simsbury, among them.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced recently the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Those still in the running from Simsbury are all seniors at Simsbury High School. They are: Vivian Amsterdam, Katherine Kolb, Jonah Lipar, and Ian Slater.

The seniors now have the opportunity to continue competing for some 6,930 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, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.

The NMSC is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, click on this link.