Cascade High School Student named 2025 Merit Scholar

LEAVENWORTH – Cascade High School student Caroline Menna has been named a 2025 National Merit Scholar, joining only 6,900 students nationwide in the prestigious recognition and earning a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.

“Well, of course, it's an honor to receive what may be the most widely recognized academic award for high school students—and I'm sure it will help open some doors. But more than that, it fills me with gratitude and hope. I'm deeply grateful to my parents and to everyone at Cascade School District and Cascade High School. In every sense of the word, they educated me. Without their support, I would not have been named a National Merit Scholar,” said Menna.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships that began in 1955. 

The annual competition began in October 2023, when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, serving as an initial screen of program entrants. The highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists. More than 16,000 semifinalists had the opportunity to continue in the competition. By the end, just under 7,000 finalists earned the “Merit Scholar” title, receiving a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.

National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state that have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college

Studies. The Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high

school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the

finalists and their high schools.

“We are extremely proud of Caroline. [She] is a great student leader. She's a great student athlete. She's very talented. She's a very talented writer, and she represents not only Cascade School District well, but all of North Central Washington and the entire state of Washington well. She's going to go on and do great things,” said CSD Superintendent Tracey Edou.

The CHS senior was recruited to ski race for Dartmouth College, her first school of choice. While attending, Menna plans to pursue science journalism and hopes to write for the college’s student-run newspaper, which is the oldest in the nation.

“I’m also hopeful that more CHS students will earn national recognition in the years to come. Many of my classmates were just as deserving, and I know there’s a rising group of underclassmen who will soon shine just as brightly as the class of 2025,” said Menna.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media