Flathead Valley high school students named National Merit semifinalists
HILARY MATHESON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 1 week AGO
EDUCATION REPORTER Hilary Matheson covers education for the Daily Inter Lake. Her reporting focuses on schools, students, and the policies that shape public education across Northwest Montana. Matheson regularly reports on school boards, district decisions and issues affecting teachers and families. Her work examines how funding, enrollment and state policy influence local school systems. She helps readers understand how education decisions affect students and communities throughout the region. IMPACT: Hilary’s work provides transparency and insight into the schools that serve thousands of local families. | September 11, 2026 12:00 AM
Ten students from Flathead, Glacier and Whitefish high schools and one homeschooled student were named 2027 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
Flathead High School’s semifinalist is Alexa Correll. Glacier High School semifinalists are Liam DeJana, Ty Rogers, Andrew Short, Liam Sipes and Asher Stanfield. At Whitefish High School, the semifinalists are Teagan Chisholm, Logan Covey, Luke Russ and William Stenstrom. The homeschooled semifinalist is Eliel Bodonyi-Kovacs.
They are among about 15,000 students who represent less than 1% of high school seniors in the United States competing for scholarships worth roughly $24 million, according to a press release.
Finalists will be announced in April through July.
More than 1.2 million juniors entered the scholarship program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors, which served as an initial screen of students.
To become a finalist, a high school official must submit an application that provides information about a student’s academic record, activity participation, leadership abilities, employment and awards received. The semifinalist must also write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the qualifying test.
About 15,000 students are expected to advance as finalists competing for scholarships, including 2,500 $2,500 National Merit scholarships, 700 corporate-sponsored scholarships and about 140 college-sponsored scholarships.
Editor's note: This article was updated Sept. 12 to reflect that Eliel Bodonyi-Kovacs is a homeschooled student. Information submitted by the National Merit Scholarship organization had listed him as being from Stillwater Christian School, where he took the PSAT.
ARTICLES BY HILARY MATHESON
Evergreen educator named Montana Teacher of the Year
Evergreen Junior High special education teacher Kenny Ross is Montana's Teacher of the Year.
FVCC faculty issues no-confidence vote amid president contract negotiations
The FVCC Education Association, the Flathead Trades Instructors Association and the Federation of Flathead Valley Community College Adjunct Faculty have voted no confidence in FVCC Executive Director of Human Resources Karen Glasser, saying they have lost trust in her leadership and judgment.
United by yellow: Crosstown rivals stand together for suicide prevention
Students from Flathead and Glacier high schools used one of the valley’s top rivalries to send a visible message of hope and solidarity by wearing yellow for suicide prevention awareness in September and through October.