This year, Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) seniors, David Carstens, Chipper Daniels, Travis Josephs, Morgan Ku and Mary Ashley Samuelson, were named 2016 National Merit Commended Students; Isabella Jackson was honored in the National Hispanic Recognition Program; and Nathan Holden and Will Traweek were named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Last year, 1.6 million students in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT.  The students were judged on a variety of information including a personal essay, letters of recommendation, their academic record and their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores. More than 34,000 commended students throughout the nation are recognized for their exceptional academic promise; students honored in the National Hispanic Recognition Program have scored in the top 2.5 percent among all Hispanic and Latino test-takers in the region; and 16,000 semi-finalists included are the highest scoring entrants in each state.