Local students named semifinalists for 2026 National Merit Scholarships
The School District of Lee County this week announced that 11 students have been selected as semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit semifinalists represent less than 1% of all high school seniors.
The National Merit semifinalists are:
Cape Coral High School
• Joshua Recupito
Dunbar High School
• Nishini Fernando
• Isabella Fowler
• Deetya Gogineni
• Finlay Schofield
Fort Myers High School
• Victoria Busch
• Sebastian Canizares
Gateway High School
• Madelyn Spitzer
Lee Virtual School
• Erik Boys
North Fort Myers High School
• Sebastian Jeanpierre
• Justin Wang
More than 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
About 15,000 students are expected to advance to the finalist level in February. To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application with the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors, endorsements, and an essay. They will then compete for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth $26 million that will be offered next spring.
“North Fort Myers High School is so very proud to recognize two National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists, Justin Wang and Sebastian Jeanpierre,” said Principal Debbie Diggs. “Both students have met all the requirements to earn their Cambridge AICE Diploma with Distinction, are currently ranked 1 and 2 out of a class of 513, are incredibly talented musicians in orchestra and band, and still find time to be involved in multiple clubs, leadership positions, and provide community service. Both of these young men have incredibly bright futures ahead of them and North is thankful to be a part of their stories.”
“We are so thrilled to have Joshua be a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship,” said Cape Coral High School Principal Ryan Jackson. “Joshua embodies everything that Cape Coral High School represents with his tremendous work ethic and desire (for) success. We are so proud of Joshua and all of his accomplishments.”
Eleven semifinalists rank as the largest number of Lee school district students honored by the National Merit program in at least the last 20 years.
Visit nationalmerit.org for information and a full list of the semifinalists.