Even though school isn’t in session, the hard work of Poudre School District students continues to be recognized.
Four 2025 graduates were named winners of National Merit Scholarships this year, as announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation from April through July. These students were selected among tens of thousands of others nationwide.
The PSD students who won scholarships this year are:
- Zoe Anderson, Fort Collins High School
- National Merit Motorola Solutions Scholarship
- Probable career field: environmental engineering
- Tyson Bhalla, Rocky Mountain High School
- National Merit $2,500 scholarship
- Probable career field: electrical engineering
- Logan Guggemos, Fort Collins High School
- National Merit $2,500 scholarship
- Probable career field: science/research
- Ia Reistad, Fossil Ridge High School
- National Merit $2,500 scholarship
- Probable career field: biomedical engineering
The NMSC, a nonprofit organization, has worked over the past 70 years to award approximately 389,000 students scholarships worth a total of nearly $1.4 billion.
The selection process for this year’s winners began when high school juniors took the 2023 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screening process. Last September, more than 16,000 semifinalists were named and moved on to the next round, where they were tasked with a detailed scholarship application. This included an essay in which they describe leadership positions and contributions in school and community activities. Semifinalists also had to take the SAT or ACT and earn a score that confirmed their performance in the initial test. This resulted in more than 15,000 finalists, around half of whom were chosen to receive a scholarship.
Congratulations to these incredible PSD students. We are proud of your accomplishments and eager to see the difference that you make in the world!