The following Ames High School students have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program: Samuel Bird, Stephen Bonett, Michael Bruner, Jacob Canfield, Jasmine Chen, Chi-Sing Ho, Robert Hunter, Jordan Jacobson, Devin Lu, Wyatt Miller, Katherine Orazem, William Rundle, Kirk Wilkins (home school), and Louis Yang. These seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards worth $34 million.

Ames High School senior Kyle Johnson has been named a semifinalist in the 44th annual National Achievement Scholarship competition as a result of his score on the Preliminary STA/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Johnson now has the opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 800 scholarships worth more than $2.5 million.

Jean Krusi, a teacher at Ames Middle School, has been awarded a Math Hero Award from MathMovesU, a national initiative from Raytheon Company. Krusi is one of 153 nominees to receive a $2,500 award and a matching grant of $2,500 for Ames Middle School. Math Hero Awards reward teachers for promoting math to students in a fun and challenging learning environment. Krusi was nominated by students, parents and faculty for her enthusiasm and interest in teaching math to others.