Melissa Heredia and Michelle Heredia from Pella High School were named National Merit Scholars. Both plan on studying Chemical Engineering in college. Melissa will attend the University of Minnesota and Michelle will attend Washington University in St. Louis. Jacob Spoelstra from North Mahaska High School was also named a National Merit Scholar. Spoelstra will study Software Engineering at Iowa State University. The scholarships award the recipients between $500 and $2,000 annually. Semifinalists had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance.