National Merit Scholar Winners

Three Lawton Public Schools students were recognized as National Merit Scholarship winners earlier this month. Congratulations to Eisenhower High School’s Justin Strickland and William Trachte as well as MacArthur High School’s Hunter Helvey.

The $2,500 scholarship – widely regarded as one of the highest honors that can be earned by a high school student – is bundled into a National Merit Package for each student attending college. There were 15,000 participants that met requirements for Finalist standing, about half of the Finalists are named Merit Scholarship winners in 2022.

Strickland will be attending the University of Oklahoma where he plans to study Law. He is thankful for the opportunity the National Merit Scholarship has given him. 

“National Merit is a tremendous honor that I have been blessed to receive. It will allow me to further my education at the highest level,” Strickland said. “I am thankful that I will be able to represent both myself and my family through the National Merit Award.” 

Trachte will be attending Oklahoma State University where he will be studying Orthodontics. He shares his excitement about the honor.

“I worked hard and my hard work culminated into earning the recognition.” Trachte said. “I’m going to be majoring in medicinal and biophysical chemistry on a pre-dental track.” 

Helvey plans to attend the University of Oklahoma as well this fall where his focus will be geared toward Oncology. He explains how this opportunity helped him become a better student. 

“It was a huge goal that helped me develop my work ethic and helped me practice being a better student,” Helvey said. “It was mainly a journey for me to self improve.” 

The National Merit Program was founded in 1955. The majority of National

Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 400 independent corporate and college sponsors. These sponsors promote efforts to enhance educational opportunities for scholastically talented youth and to encourage them in their pursuit of academic excellence.

These students have worked hard to earn these honors and we are excited to see them go forward. 

 Additional recipients of college-sponsored awards will be announced in July.