According to announcements made by McCracken County School and Paducah Tilghman, the three students, Hope Hodges and Jason Qiu of McCracken County, and Ryan Chua of Paducah Tilghman, have moved forward to the Semifinalist stage of the competition.
Hodges is the president of the Drama Club, a co-founder of the American Sign Language Club, a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, and Environmental Club. She is the daughter of John and Shelly Hodges.
Qiu is currently attending Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University. He is the son of Yunmei Wu and Michael Qiu.
Chua is a member of the Varsity Academic Team, the National Honor Society, and the Beta Club. He is an Eagle Scout, an alumnus of Kentucky's Governor's Scholars Program, an AP Scholar with Distinction, and was recently named a Paducah Bank Teen of the Week.
More than 1.5 million students across the country had entered the Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Those with higher scores were designated Semifinalists, which represents less than 1 percent of all high school seniors across the country.
Out of the 1.5 million students that entered the program, approximately 16,000 semifinalists will advance to the finalist stage after completing the additional requirements - maintaining an outstanding academic record throughout their senior year, becoming endorsed and recommended by their principal, submitting SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test, and completing the scholarship application detailing their leadership and community activities.
