Note: Due to incorrect information initially provided by Leander ISD, this story has been revised to include the correct list of National Merit Semifinals from Vista Ridge High School.

At its Nov. 21 meeting, Leander ISD trustees recognized the district's 27 National Merit Semifinalists and 46 National Hispanic Scholars.

According to Superintendent Bruce Gearing, the National Merit Semifinalists have shown “show exceptional academic ability and potential for success” and will qualify for academic scholarships in the spring.

National Hispanic Scholars, according to Gearing, are the top 2.5% of the highest-scoring Hispanic juniors on the PSAT and other standardized tests.

Members of each group were invited to the meeting and had the opportunity to take a group photo with the trustees.


LISD’s students in both categories are as follows.

National Merit Semifinalists

  • Cedar Park High School: Alisson Jia

  • Leander HS: Thienquang Nguyen

  • Rouse HS: Jenna Hanso

  • Vandegrift HS: Summer Eely, Daria Fontani Herreros, Isabelle Grimesey, Avinash Gupta, Celia Handing, Caitlyn Harmon, Sierra Held, Spandana Kamepalli, Samantha Kellogg, Pierce Lai, Bridget Li, Rena Liang, Eesha Patel, Matthew Rysner, Sydney Suthar, Siddharth Venkatraman

  • Vista Ridge HS: Ethan Chen, Christian Daniel, Bryce Flynn, Nathaniel Irwin, Sannidhi Koganti, Rebecca Margolis, Cole Pomroy, Kelly To


National Hispanic Scholars


  • Cedar Park HS: Aidan Pena, Chantal Guerrero, Oscar Guzman Martinez, Makia Jordan, Amelia Tapia

  • Glenn HS: Rebecca Isaac

  • Leander HS: Alexa Cumming, Dustin Garza, Oscar Kellner, Elu Mena

  • Rouse HS: Lauren Bierschenk, Gabriel Jimenez, Noah Leverette, Sabrina Pitkanen, Maria Telesforo

  • Vandegrift HS: Noah Acevedo, Nina Castaneda, Bernardo Conterno, David Cox, Daria Herreras, Nurivan Gomez, Luca Labardini, Eric Nunes, Allison Osorio, Israel Ramirez II, Julia Roberto, Gatienne Rodriguez, Nathanael Saavedra, Logan Spielman, Kayla Stewart

  • Vista Ridge HS: Cassidy Barrett, Pablo De La Garza, Jewells Escamilla, Benjamin Galison, Benjamin Gutierrez, Christian Howard, Ethan Howard, Rebecca Margolis, Ana Martin, Anthony Mercado, Mary Milligan, Eva Murillo, Ethan Niedzwiedz, Paola Perez-Laurence, Sergio Ruenes Campos, Alexander Warren