Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced Seneca Valley School District seniors David Choi, Zachary Garcia, Simren Jayaraman, Parker Logue, Ananya Rao, Avani Salunkhe, Anoop Savio and Dora White are semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

These eight seniors will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit scholarships worth more than $30 million, to be offered next spring.

Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing. About half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. In February, they will be notified of this designation.

For more information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

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Abbie Kline of Fombell is one of 16 first-year students at Ohio Wesleyan University selected for admission into the university’s Global Scholars Program.

The four-year Thomas W. Palmer and Susan Palmer Global Scholars Program recognizes students’ potential for high academic achievement and passion for international issues.

The selective program is part of Ohio Wesleyan’s Global Studies Institute, a hub where faculty and students from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and fine arts come together to explore issues from all academic disciplines and work toward real-world solutions.

All new Global Scholars participate in a team-taught course during their first semester in which they explore a single issue in depth.