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Merit Scholarship Finalists
Tribune photo published January 9, 1957

These 11 seniors at Ames High School are among the finalists in the National Merit Scholarship.  Above in the first row, left to right, are Joe Everds, Ron Lee, Elizabeth Spedding and Dave Henderson.  In the second row, left to right, are Doris Witter, William Stoever and Jerry Shipley.  In the back row, left to right, are Jon Piersol, Edith Lillie, Bob Stebbins and Sue Allen.

Eleven of the 12 in this county were from Ames, giving Ames High school the second most candidates  in the state for the scholastic honor.  Des Moines had the most with 13.  The other Story County student is a Nevada High School senior, Jo Ann Roberts.  The Ames High finalists are Susan E. Allen, Joe P. Everds, David W. Henderson, Ronald S. Lee, Edith J. Lillie, Jon R. Piersol, Jerry S. Shipley, Elizabeth Spedding, Robert D. Stebbins, William A. Stoever, and Doris A. Witter.

Jo Ann Roberts, Nevada High School senior, was the other Story Countyan to pass the first hurdle in the National Merit Scholarship competition.  She is the daughter of Mrs. Evelyn Roberts.  Jo Ann has maintained a straight A average this year and is hoping to go to University of Iowa next year to major in political science.

The finalists now face a stiff three-hour College Board examination Jan. 12, plus intensive screening of their leadership and extra-curricular records by a selection board.  At stake are more than 700 four-year college scholarships, many of them sponsored by business and industrial corporations.  Included are 100 Sears-Roebuck Foundation Merit Scholarships and nationwide programs sponsored by such companies and foundations as Pittsburgh Plate Glass, F.W. Woolworth, Standard Oil (Indiana), International Nickel, and many others.

The Jan. 12 examination will be given in designated testing centers throughout the country, and at least 7,000 of the Merit Finalists are expected to survive this hurdle, according to John M. Stainaker, President of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.  "Every member of this group of 7,000 will have the highest potential to benefit from college training, and I wish only that there were Merit Scholarships for each of them.  The response of business and industry in establishing Merit Scholarship Programs to help these students has been magnificent.  But we will probably have 9 or 10 highly qualified students for every Merit Scholarship available."

In the final phase of the competition, the other accomplishments and the character of the competitors will be evaluated.  About April 25, a fortunate 700 will become the Merit Scholars of 1957.  The runners-up will each receive a Certificate of Merit, attesting to their high ability, and all college and universities will be notified, enabling these students to be considered for thousands of other awards and prizes.

The 700 Merit Scholars choose the colleges they wish to attend.  The value of each scholarship varies with the financial need of the student, ranging upward from $100 per year (minimum honorary) to $2,200 per scholarship (over the four years) to help defray the actual cost of educating the students.  The Merit Scholarship Program is now in its second year.  It was established in 1955 through basic grants of $20,500,000 from the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  The National Science Foundation and the Old Dominion Foundation have given funds for research work.  In the first year, 556 Merit Scholars were named.  They are now freshmen at 160 different colleges.

The program is designed to search the nation for those students most able to benefit from a college education, regardless of means.  Once discovered, the students are supported in college by funds provided by business and industrial corporations, professional societies, and even individuals interested in helping students of high ability.  Some 23 of these groups financed Merit Scholars in 1956, and over 45 business organizations are planning to support Merit Scholars in 1957.

The competition is open to any public, private, or parochial high school in the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico; and any high school senior may participate.  Today's 7,500 finalists represent one half of one per cent of 1957's high school graduating classes - the best in each state.