* Karen Hsu and Sandy Hsu, Eureka High School;
* Diana DeAndrade, Lauren Hibler, Ravan Khazai, Darren Lacour, Braden Miller, Ryan Shannon and Stephanie Wolf, Lafayette High School
* Paul Boswell, Emily Huang, Emily Lebsack, Sarah Palmer, Katrina Schmerold and Charles Wu, Marquette High School.

More than 1.3 million juniors in nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2006 National Merit Program by taking the 2004 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT?, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The Semifinalists in the 2006 National Merit Scholarship Program nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school
seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout the high school years, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier qualifying test performance. The Semifinalist and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student's self-descriptive essay and information about the Semifinalist's participation and leadership in school and community activities.

Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists will advance to the Finalist level and it is from this group that all Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous
college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.