Anna Bauer Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist; First Ever in Kingsley History

Kingsley High School student Anna Bauer has been named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, becoming the first student ever to earn the honor in the district's history.

The designation places her in the top 1% of high schoolers nationwide.

More than 1.3 million students submitted an application to the program, and just 16,000 from across the country were selected as semifinalists after taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Of the 472 semifinalists chosen in Michigan, the vast majority represent schools in the Ann Arbor, Metro Detroit and Grand Rapids areas. Anna is one of a handful of students representing Northern Michigan.

She now has the chance to compete for nearly 7,000 scholarships totaling $26 million. 95% of semifinalists will achieve finalist standing, and half will win a scholarship.

"To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition," says a news release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

"[They] must submit a detailed application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

"A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test."

Finalists will be announced in February and Merit Scholarships will be announced in the spring of 2026.

Anna is a senior at Kingsley High School and has had a prolific academic and extracurricular career. This summer, she was selected to attend the ultra elite Commander Naval Air Forces Flight Academy, and was one of 10 students from an international pool of applicants to earn her private pilot's license.

She is a student representative on the Kingsley Board of Education and an active member of the school's Naval Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps. She is also a gifted scientist and has earned multiple state and regional science fair awards.

Way to go, Anna!