National Merit Honors
![Slide with four high school student portraits. Text: National Merit Semi-Finalist, James Colby, WBLAHS Senior; National Merit Semi-Finalist, Haaken Lein, WBLAHS Senior; National Merit Commended, Connor Jamieson, WBLAHS Senior; National Merit Commended, Gretchen Leder, WBLAHS Senior.]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1789957944/whitebeark12mnus/b7nvbvy7yymiqz21ywjt/2026NationalMeritStudents.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1789957944/whitebeark12mnus/b7nvbvy7yymiqz21ywjt/2026NationalMeritStudents.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1789957944/whitebeark12mnus/b7nvbvy7yymiqz21ywjt/2026NationalMeritStudents.png","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1789957944/whitebeark12mnus/b7nvbvy7yymiqz21ywjt/2026NationalMeritStudents.png","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1789957944/whitebeark12mnus/b7nvbvy7yymiqz21ywjt/2026NationalMeritStudents.png","width":1296}])
National Merit Honors
WBLAHS seniors James Colby and Haaken Lein recently learned they are Semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.
Seniors Connor Jamieson and Gretchen Leder also learned they were named Commended Students, placing among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2027 competition by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).