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Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 47F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Rain early…then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 38F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Updated: September 11, 2025 @ 1:45 pm
Eight students in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and one homeschool student are finalists for the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program, placing them among the most academically talented high school seniors in the nation.
The students are part of a nationwide pool of more than 16,000 semifinalists, who represent less than 1% of all U.S. high school seniors. They earned this recognition by achieving some of the highest scores on the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
The nine semifinalists are competing for almost 7,000 National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $26 million, which will be offered next spring.
Ninety-five percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship.
To be considered for a scholarship, the semifinalists submit a detailed application highlighting their academic record, community activities, leadership abilities and honors and awards. The scholarship is also determined by SAT or ACT scores and an essay.
The nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation funds the scholarships along with 300 business organizations and higher education institutions. Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding July of 2026.
The finalists from Fairbanks are:
• Jameson Anders, home school/online school.
• Elias Carosso, Joaquin Carosso, Christopher Park, Julia Wang, Priscilla Wang, Pauline Xu and Mark Yang, Lathrop High School.
• Shayla Mazer, West Valley High School.
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