Thirty-three Mason High School students have been named National Merit Semifinalists through the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Competition for 2022.

Ayra Abid , Sankalp Agrawal, Shishir Annamaneni, Kunal Arora, Humza Asgher, Ravi Bandaru, Caroline Bishop, Haarika Bondalapati, Timothy Brewer, Diego Fortson, Anish Gangavaram, Vignesh Ganji, Harrison Geiser, Neev Gupta, Yuandi Huang, Max Keck, William Lee, Jessica Li, Inesh Loka, Sarah Lyons, Om Muthyala, Vansh Patel, Reva Reddy, Ameya Saraf, Nischal Suhas, Aryan Tadwalkar, Shivanshi Tandon, Nishita Tonangi, Luke Trenaman, Nikith Vangala, Vidhaath Vedati , Ananya Viswanathan, and Adam Weaver are all National Merit Semifinalists. They are among the approximate 16,000 of the nation's top students, less than one percent of high school seniors nationally, who will go on to compete for the prestigious National Merit Scholarships. In February 2022, the Semifinalists will be notified whether they have advanced to Finalist standing. Corporate, college, and National Merit scholarships will then be awarded to finalists between April and July 2022.

MHS Principal Bobby Dodd congratulated the students on their accomplishment. “"These Comets have accomplished so much while also going to school during a global pandemic. We appreciate that not only do these bright students do well in their classes and on the PSAT, they are also leaders in our community, school activities, sports, and performing arts. Congratulations to each of them and their families," said Bobby Dodd, MHS Principal."

The students will be recognized by the Mason City Schools Board of Education on October 26.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a prestigious academic competition for recognition and scholarship that began in 1955.  High school students enter the National Merit Program as juniors by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test --a test which serves as an initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants each year -- and by meeting additional program requirements. Approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.