Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills City Schools
Vestavia Hills' state-leading 24 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
Vestavia Hills High School has earned statewide distinction with 24 students named National Merit semifinalists — the highest total from any Alabama school this year and the school’s largest showing since 2006.
The 71st annual National Merit list, released this fall, includes about 16,000 students nationwide who represent the top 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
VHHS honorees are Mina Hu, Lucy Manary, Lily Xie, Judy Yamani, Mariam Malik, Vivian Shi, Ayden Yother, Evelyn Kutny, Zara McKelvey, Tina Lou, Tina Gao, Syed Andrabi, Lance Wilkerson, Vaughan Milliman, John Wimberly, Ryaan Singh, Aditya Sheelavant, Eric Wang, Daniel McMurray, Jaymin Bae, Cooper Prier, Jack Hugunine, Pratul Danasekar and Jeffrey Zhao.
This is the third time in the past decade that VHHS has produced more than 20 semifinalists in a single year.
The students qualified based on their performance on the 2024 PSAT. As semifinalists, they are now eligible to compete for approximately $26 million in scholarships to be awarded next spring.
“It is an honor to congratulate this year’s National Merit semifinalists for the way they’ve approached learning — with consistency, curiosity and perseverance,” said Principal Blair Inabinet. “Their journey reflects our core values of respect, excellence and service, reminding us that success grows out of daily choices and steady effort. This recognition is a milestone — but even more, it is proof of the power of process and dedication.”
