Cascade High School at the National Stage: Caroline Menna National Merits Scholarship Program Semifinalist

Caroline Menna, recently recognized as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, hopes to "represent [her] community and central WA” as she competes for recognition as a finalist. Photo courtesy of Caroline Menna.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation works to recognize and honor students of exceptional academic talent with the United States, and the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP) is extremely competitive, with over 1.3 million entrants every year. This year, a student from Cascade High School, Caroline Menna, has qualified. 

“[NMSP] was something I knew about ahead of time, but I just came into the [PSAT] with a mindset of doing the best that I could... and it worked out well,” said Menna (12). 

“[NMSP] was something I knew about ahead of time, but I just came into the [PSAT] with a mindset of doing the best that I could... and it worked out well,” said Menna (12). 

As one of the students with the highest PSAT scores from Washington State, she secured a place as one of the 16,000 semifinalists. The honor is reserved for less than 1% of the high school graduating seniors.  

Her preparation for studying for the PSAT consisted primarily of taking practice tests to find areas to focus her studying. 

“With each practice test I would find one area I could improve on, where I got a few questions wrong. I would [narrow in on that topic]; for something grammar related I would focus on [studying] just that, or if it was a specific math formula that I wasn't understanding I'd focus on that,” said Menna. 

Menna also said that she utilized resources from Kahn Academy and preparation materials intended for the SAT, as there were fewer available for the PSAT. 

Menna’s recent application submission is the next step in the process for the National Merit Scholarship Competition. The application included a written essay, her transcript, her SAT score, and a recommendation written by Principal James Swanson.  

“One of the things that I'm super impressed with as far as walking through the application and reading through all of [Caroline’s] material, is that she's been planning on a number of things well before her senior year,” said Swanson.  

Menna’s lengthy planning for the future has included taking virtually every honors, AP and college-in-the-high-school course offered at CHS and seeking several classes that have not been offered at the small high school, not to mention her dedication to and successes in extracurricular activities. This is another piece of her application that is incredibly advantageous.  

The finalist stage of the competition consists of 15,000 qualified students. With her application submission, Menna seeks to achieve a Certificate of Merit, which will attest to her recognition in the program. Should she achieve this status, she will be in the pool for the 6,870 chosen as Merit Scholarship winners.  

“It was nice to find out that the work and the studying that I put in and that my teachers have put in teaching me the topics and has all worked out. The best benefit of receiving this recognition is being able to represent my community and central Washington with this award, and I hope to learn new things, and practice the application process,” said Menna.  

Menna’s success in becoming a NMSP semifinalist is a testament to her determination and is credit to Cascade High School.