Fourteen Shawnee Mission School District students have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, a prestigious recognition of academic potential based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors.

More than 1.5 million students take the test each year. Less than 1% of the students who take the test are named semifinalists.

This year’s semifinalists from Shawnee Mission are:

SM East

• Grant Colvin
• Ian Gould
• Emma Kampschroeder
• Gabby Leinbach
• Maxwell Rogler
• Wyatt Wimmer
• Andrew Wurst

SM North

• Audrey Diggs

SM Northwest

• Catherine Becker
• Adam White

SM South

• William Cooper
• Owen Russell
• Nikolas Trofimoff

SM West

• Sophie Coltvet

This year’s list is in line with what the district has seen in recent years. In 2018, 13 Shawnee Mission students were named semifinalists. In 2017, 17 students made the list.

Neighboring district Olathe Public Schools saw 15 students make the semifinalist list this year. In Blue Valley, 53 students made the list.

In February, the organization will announce which students have advanced to the finalist stage. In spring 2020, it will announce who has earned the scholarships.