Students In Woodbury Named National Merit Semifinalists

WOODBURY, MN — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation Wednesday announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, including students who attend school in Woodbury.

The semifinalists entered the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) in 2021, when they were juniors. The PSAT serves as an initial screen of program, and only one percent of U.S. high school seniors were selected as semifinalists, according to a news release.

Here are the students in Woodbury who were nominated as semifinalists on Wednesday:

East Ridge High School

• Arul Banerjea,
• Kenneth A. Chen
• Jerry K. Cheng
• Justin J. Luan
• Nadia Y. Wang

Math and Science Academy

• Clark J. Decaire
• Braedon T. Krisko
• Karen C. Nakamura

New Life Academy

• Liani A. Dalbec
• Colton J. Hendricks

Woodbury High School

• Nathaniel R. Andersen
• Rachel L. Estvold
• Srinath Hariharan
• Lydia G. Jang
• Krish P. Kale
• Heming Lu
• Gavin Y. Sun

To become a finalist, the semifinalists and a high school official must submit information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

The finalists will then have a chance to earn one of the 7,250 scholarships offered next spring.