Six Lee County students earn National Merit Scholarships

Six students from the School District of Lee County have been recognized as National Merit Scholarship finalists or recipients. Four of them will receive college-sponsored merit scholarships worth between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study. Isabella Fowler and Deetya Gogineni from Dunbar High School were awarded the National Merit University of Florida Scholarship, with Fowler pursuing engineering and Gogineni aiming for medicine. Finlay Scofield from Dunbar received the National Merit University of Alabama Scholarship to study materials engineering. Gateway High School’s Madelyn Spitzer earned the National Merit University of South Florida Scholarship and will study cardiology. These scholarships are part of a larger program involving 6,700 high school seniors and 138 higher education institutions, totaling nearly $24 million in awards. Additionally, Dunbar High School’s Nishini Fernando and Fort Myers High School’s Sebastian Canizares were named National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners. Fernando will attend Harvard University to study medicine, while Canizares will pursue law at Georgetown University. These finalists were selected based on their strong combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.