Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA) ihas announced that Juneau resident and K-12 home-schooled student Madison D. York has been selected as a National Merit Scholar finalist for 2018. About 1.6 million students from more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represented less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors.
Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
York volunteers as a church youth leader, alternate church pianist and is involved in many school activities including serving as captain of the Juneau-Douglas High School cross country and track teams for her senior year. Madison is the oldest daughter of Matthew and Susan York and has committed to the University of Texas at Dallas Collegium V Honors Program where she plans to major in physics.
