By Gabrielle Gasser ASSOCIATE EDITOR
BIG SKY – Two Lone Peak High School students recently found out that they are semifinalists in a national scholarship program that recognizes students based on their PSAT, or Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.
Seniors Felix Jacobs and Max Romney were both notified in September by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation that they were two of 16,000 students nationwide selected as semifinalists, ranking them in the top 1.6% of the 1.5 million entrants.
“I was over the moon and so excited because they’re both incredibly hardworking, intellectual, engaged in their schoolwork and really involved with the school via clubs, sports, and so forth,” said Secondary School Principal Dr. Marlo Mitchem. “It’s just really wonderful to see them get recognized.”
Jacobs, 18, is an avid skier and snowboarder in his free time and is active in a few LPHS extracurriculars including serving as a class representative on Student Council, being treasurer of National Honor Society and working with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He said he also plans on serving as the manager for the Big Horns basketball team this year and intends to play golf in the spring.
After studying hard for the SAT and taking the PSAT three times, Jacobs said it felt good to hear that he was a semifinalist and that his hard work “paid off.”
Seventeen-year-old Max Romney said he was excited to hear that he is a semifinalist.
“It was really cool to be recognized on a national level,” Romney wrote in an email to EBS. “It’s also really neat to be a part of a group of only [49] high school kids in Montana to win this award.”
Romney enjoys staying active both in his free time and at school. He plays basketball and soccer with the Big Horns and enjoys skiing, backpacking and fishing when not on the court or the field. Romney heads up the newscast team at LPHS, serves as the vice president of NHS and is a member of Interact Club. He is also a thespian, taking the stage for the annual High School Musical.
The next step for both boys is to fill out an application to become one of the roughly 15,000 finalists. After that, NMSC will select approximately 7,250 finalists to receive a Merit Scholarship.
“I’m hoping that both of them progress on this journey and I hope they both take this as far as they’re dreaming to take it,” Mitchem said. “I want to wish them good luck as they submit their applications in the next few weeks.”
