Six students from the School District of Lee County have been named National Merit Scholarship Program finalists and scholarship recipients. Four of them are earning National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

Three of the college-sponsored merit scholarship winners are from Dunbar High School. Isabella Fowler and Deetya Gogineni were awarded the National Merit University of Florida Scholarship. Isabella is going to study for a career in engineering, and Deetya for a career in medicine. Dunbar’s Finlay Scofield was awarded the National Merit University of Alabama Scholarship. He will study for a career in materials engineering.

Gateway High School’s Madelyn Spitzer is a National Merit University of South Florida Scholarship recipient. She will study for a career in cardiology.

College-sponsored merit scholarship winners are a part of the group of about 6,700 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $24 million. A total of 138 higher education institutions are participating in the program.

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

Dunbar High School’s Nishini Fernando and Fort Myers High School's Sebastian Canizares have been selected as National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners. Nishini will attend Harvard University to prepare for a career in medicine, while Sebastian will study law at Georgetown University.