Mehlville Schools See Two National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

The Mehlville School District provided this information about their National Merit Scholarship semifinalists:

The Mehlville School District is proud to announce that two of its students have qualified as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. David Gerding is a senior at Oakville High School and Kristin Lenz is a senior at Mehlville High School.

The selection process for National Merit Scholarships begins with the selection of 50,000 students who earn the highest scores on critical reading, math and writing tests. The selection process continues to narrow the list of potential finalists based on academic excellence and their SAT scores. Gerding and Lenz are now part of a group of 16,000 U.S. high school students who have made it to the round of semifinalists. National Merit Scholarships will be awarded to 8,000 students, who will be notified early next spring. Each winner will receive a $2,500 scholarship.

David Gerding says he plans to study engineering when he goes to college. He has Washington University, Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, the University of Illinois and MIT on his list of potential schools. Kristen Lenz says she plans to enroll at the University of Missouri-Columbia, with the goal of becoming a veterinarian.