Farmington Seniors Named National Merit Finalists

FARMINGTON — Farmington High seniors Catherine Warren and Weston Sills have advanced from semifinalists to finalists for the National Merit Scholarship program.

The two students, who have attended Farmington schools since kindergarten, were among about 16,000 semifinalists announced nationwide last fall, out of 50,000 high scorers throughout the country.

Of the 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 met all requirements to advance to finalist standing in the scholarship competition.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will select 7,500 Merit Scholarship winners from this group of 15,000 finalists. Scholarships, worth a total of about $30 million, will be announced beginning in April and go throughout the summer.

Both Warren and Sills plan to attend the University of Arkansas. Warren has not decided yet what she will study at the UA but believes it probably will be in engineering. Sills is interested in biology or another major that is math-related.

Sills said he hopes that being named a National Merit Finalist will help him with being awarded more college scholarships. The seniors have been selected to interview for scholarships at the University of Arkansas, and they will be able to include the finalists standing on their resumes.

Warren said she was excited to receive the news about advancing to the finalist level.

“It’s really cool to say you were selected out of all these people,” Warren said.

The National Merit Scholarship Program uses students’ scores on the Preliminary SAT qualifying test to determine status. Warren’s and Sills’ scores on the preliminary SAT taken in fall 2020 were in the top 1% for the state of Arkansas.

The seniors will finish out their final year at Farmington High in several ways.

Warren is a varsity cheerleader and is now cheering on the girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams as they go through postseason. She will be a member of the ensemble for the high school musical, “Footloose,” in April.

Sills is a member of the high school band and hopes to play in the Razorback band. He also plays on the high school baseball team and the 2022 season started Feb. 28.

Their last event in high school will be graduation on May 17.

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington High seniors Weston Sills and Catherine Warren have advanced to be named finalists for the National Merit Scholarship program. The seniors are among 15,000 finalists named across the country by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the nonprofit organization that operates the college scholarship award program.