Three Northwest ISD Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Steele Early College High School senior Caleb Aultman and Byron Nelson High School seniors Jake Butler-Jancose and Justin Boyd have been selected among approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These talented seniors will have an opportunity to advance in the competition for nearly 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $30 million that will be offered next spring. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to achieve finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the title of Merit Scholar.

Approximately 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). To achieve finalist status, they must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by their high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirms their earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Steele Early College High School’s Caleb Aultman will graduate in the spring with his associate degree and is one of the founding members of the school’s E-sports Club. Aultman is a Microsoft Master and a Career and Technical Education Ambassador and plans to study astronomy at either The University of Arizona, The University of Colorado, The University of Nebraska or MIT. 

Byron Nelson High School senior Jake Butler-Jancose is a member of the Byron Nelson Environmental Club — one he helped start his freshman year — which is still going strong with over three dozen members. Butler-Jancose is currently serving as student chair of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Academics Department for the school’s new UIL department head. Butler-Jancose plans to attend Southern Methodist University and triple major in history, human rights and Spanish.

Byron Nelson High School senior Justin Boyd Band is a member of the school’s marching band and symphony orchestra. He also participates in the worship band at his church and thanks his parents for being his biggest supporters. Boyd plans to study mechanical engineering at either Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University or Baylor University. 

Approximately 15,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, where all National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected. The final winners will be announced in April. To learn more, please visit www.nationalmerit.org.