COEUR d'ALENE - This year's crop of high school graduates in Kootenai County includes seven National Merit Scholarship Finalists and most are from one high school.

Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy's five National Merit Scholarship Finalists represent 10 percent of this year's graduating class of 52 students.

Principal Dan Nicklay said the school has a high percentage of National Merit Scholarship Finalists each year.

"It's a combination of natural drive, plus rigor," Nicklay said.

Charter Academy's courses are all accelerated or advanced, he said, so the students are engaged and willing to work on that level.

"We also push them. We stretch them," Nicklay said. "The more you teach kids, the more they learn and can achieve great things."

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation does caution against using the list of winners to draw conclusions about schools, school systems or states.

"The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies," states a press release from the organization.

There are other measures of the Charter graduating classes' successes.

The 52 graduates have been collectively offered $5.2 million in scholarships.

One Charter student, Makenna May, has received scholarship offers totaling $1.7 million. She's headed for Princeton, Nicklay said.

"Just as impressive, is the fact that 26 of these kids were offered single scholarships in excess of $40,000," Nicklay said.

There are 14 Charter graduates with single scholarship offers in excess of $60,000, and seven of them have individually been offered more than $250,000 in scholarship funds.

Some of that college money was offered through the National Merit Scholarship program.

Students enter the National Merit Scholarship competition when they take the PSAT in their junior year of high school. The highest scoring students become semifinalists and then advance by fulfilling additional requirements including submitting a detailed scholarship application that includes an essay and information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions.

Of the 15,000 National Merit Scholarship Finalists nationwide, 8,000 advanced to earn the "Merit Scholar" title. With that, they became eligible for several different types of National Merit Scholarships. Some are sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, others are underwritten by businesses, colleges and universities.

There were 2,500 college- and university-sponsored National Merit Scholarships awarded this year, and 24 were in Idaho. The scholarships range from $500 to $2,000, and the winners were selected by officials of the sponsoring colleges.

National Merit Scholarship recipients:

Ryan Bushling, Coeur d'Alene; Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy; probably career field: economics; scholarship sponsor: Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich.

Morgan Ford, Coeur d'Alene; Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy; probable career field: genetics; scholarship sponsor: University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash.

Michael Harlan, Coeur d'Alene; Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy; probable career field: mechanical engineering; scholarship sponsor: Oklahoma Christian University.

Capria Rinaldi, Post Falls; Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy; probably career field: biochemistry; scholarship sponsor: Arizona State University.

Hayden Smotherman, Hayden; Coeur d'Alene High School; probably career field: physics; scholarship sponsor: University of Idaho.

Other local National Merit Finalists include:

Daria Greer, Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy; and Adam Crandall, Coeur d'Alene High School.

Another round of scholarships is expected to be announced next month.

The list of recipients of this year's Governor's Cup Scholarships includes three local high school students.

They were among 23 scholarship winners announced by Gov. Butch Otter's office earlier this week.

Recipients were chosen from among more than 500 applicants. Selections were based on each applicant's commitment to public service, academic achievement and community involvement. The award is $3,000 per year, renewable for up to four years.

Governor's Cup Scholarship winners

Governor's Cup Scholarship recipients include:

Brooke Houseman, Post Falls High School, University of Idaho;

Allison Rowley, Post Falls High School, University of Idaho;

Benjamin Whipple, Kootenai High School, University of Idaho.