Megan Pitman, senior at Rock Canyon High School and CPV resident was thrilled when administrators came into her classroom and announced that she is a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

By Lisa Nicklanovich; photos courtesy of RCHS

Approximately 1.6 million students entered the National Merit Scholarship (NMS) competition, which awards more than $33 million.  The names of the NMS semifinalists were recently announced, and 22 students are in the Douglas County school district, making them part of the nation’s scholastic champions who represent less than one percent of United States high school seniors.  

Megan Pitman, a senior at Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) and a Castle Pines Village (CPV) resident, was caught off-guard when administrators came into her classroom to announce that she was a NMS semifinalist.  Pitman said, “It was a goal of mine to do the best I could on the PSAT and hopefully qualify for a National Merit Scholarship.  I was nervous and really hoping that my score would make the cutoff for this year, too.  When all of the school administrators came into my classroom to announce that I had become a semifinalist, I was incredibly excited and proud that I had made it.”  Pitman is student body vice president at RCHS, and a member of the National Honor Society, Sources of Strength, and Eco Club.  In addition to playing varsity soccer, Pitman volunteers at Sky Ridge Medical Center.  

All 22 semifinalists advance in the competition and will find out in February if they are finalists.  NMS winners are announced beginning in April.

In the meantime, Pitman is busy applying to college, with her top choices being the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and Columbia University.  Pitman plans to go into the science, technology, math, engineering (STEM) field.  

Congratulations to all the outstanding students:  Samuel J. Atlas, Mountain Vista High School; Aidan W. Berryman, Rock Canyon High School; Pravin Bhandari, STEM School and Academy; Neha Chauhan, Rock Canyon High School; Ansh S. Desai, Legend High School; Logan A. Dunn, ThunderRidge High School; Garrett N. Figueroa, Rock Canyon High School; Calvin T. Haensel, ThunderRidge High School; Lynnae A. Johnson, Douglas County High School; Adam Klein, Highlands Ranch High School; Aaron Lou, Highlands Ranch High School; Aaron Makikalli, Rock Canyon High School;  Sydney Marchando, Rock Canyon High School; Jonathan Meade, Rock Canyon High School; Megan L. Pitman, Rock Canyon High School; Nicholas J. Purchase, Rock Canyon High School; Katherine R. Schaffer, Rock Canyon High School; Samuel P. Serra, Highlands Ranch High School; Connor W. Simpson, SkyView Academy; Josie Van Divier, Legend High School; Christopher E. Waid, Ponderosa High School; and Lily Y. Xie, Highlands Ranch High School.