Two Springfield high school seniors awarded funds in National Merit Scholarship Program

Two Springfield high school students were among the second round of winners in the National Merit Scholarship Program, according to a news release Wednesday.

Elana Noor Hadi, a senior at Central High School, and Sahara Smith, a senior at Springfield Catholic High School, will each receive $2,500.

Hadi's field of study was listed as finance while Smith, who lives in Rogersville, plans to study computer science.

They were chosen from among 15,000 finalists in the program. The $2,500 scholarship winners are judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in college, according to the release.

The number of winners in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of graduating seniors in the nation. In Missouri, there are more than 40 winners and the overwhelming majority are from the St. Louis area. The only other winner in southwest Missouri was from Joplin.

More: This Springfield senior met President Biden, watched State of the Union from White House

The first round of scholarships were announced in April. The final rounds will be in June and July. By the end, more than 6,800 seniors will have been awarded $26 million.

This year's program started in October 2022, when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The highest scoring participants were named semifinalists last fall.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Two SGF seniors awarded funds in National Merit Scholarship Program