Record-Breaking Year: 24 Midway High School Students Earn National Merit, College Board Honors

Midway High School students are continuing their legacy of exceptional academic performance this year with the district's highest-ever number receiving national recognition through the National Merit and College Board programs.

Setting the district record with a total of 24 honorees, this year’s recognitions include eight National Merit Commended Scholars, three National African American Recognition Program Scholars, 13 National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars, and two National Indigenous Recognition Program Scholars. Two students earned recognition through more than one program. 

In addition, senior Jonathan Melichar, a National Merit Commended Student, earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT. 

With a wide range of interests from creative writing to esports, this record-breaking group includes varsity athletes, musicians, dancers, club founders, and state-level competitors who collectively serve over 17 local organizations as community volunteers. Among them are aspiring medical students, computer scientists, architects, film producers, and engineers. 

Out of over 1.3 million juniors who entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, approximately 34,000 are named Commended Students. Midway’s eight Commended Students are part of this elite group who scored among the top 3% in the nation. 

Commended:
Cole Baldwin
Sam Espen
Oliver Hanchey
Isaiah Hilkemann
Cameron Johnson
Jonathan Melichar, perfect ACT score
Harris Meyer
Priya West

Midway students have a strong history of success in College Board’s national recognition programs, which award academic honors to underrepresented students who excel on the PSAT/NMSQT/PSAT10 exams and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

National African American Recognition:
Sayladah Bodu
Kaitlin Robinson
Jayven Watson*

National Hispanic Recognition:
Mia Campos Martinez
Zoe Hernandez
Maria Isabel Hinojos
Carolyn Lopez
Luis S. Lopez
Gabriel Lugo
Javier Gonzalez Sanchez
Gabriela Gonzalez Alanis
Olivia Machado
Adriana Salazar
Wyatt Thaller*
Elena Torres De Jesus
Jayven Watson*

National Indigenous Recognition:
Rylie Graham
Wyatt Thaller*

*Indicates recognition in more than one category.