Four Bethlehem Central High School seniors have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists as members of the class of 2026. They are among the highest-scoring entrants from New York State recognized as part of the prestigious academic recognition and scholarship program that began in 1955. They now have the opportunity to compete next spring for approximately 6,930 National Merit Scholarships valued at more than $26 million.
The Bethlehem Central High School 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists are:
- Sophie Kobayashi
- Kelvin Li
- Keiran McNay
- James Nalbone
Fewer than 1 percent of high school seniors in the United States are named National Merit Semifinalists. Scholarship winners will be announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation between April and July 2026.
More than 1.3 million juniors from more than 20,000 high schools across the country entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) during their junior year. The PSAT serves as an initial screening tool for the scholarship program.
In addition to the 16,000 students nationwide who are honored as Semifinalists, another 34,000 are recognized as Commended Students based on their performance on the PSAT qualifying exam.
The Bethlehem Central High School seniors named as 2026 National Merit Commended Students are:
- Zakir Bakar
- Shawn Chaney
- Samuel Harwayne-Hymes
- Lillian Kahn
- Bhavya Kakarala
- Maxim Kuperman
- Val Kustov
- Bridger Lewis
- Jacob Lyubarov
- Laurel Muench
- Emily Murphy
- Oliver Reichman
- Rain Ross
- Taim Sheikh Khaddour
- Taylor Steil