The seven National Merit Scholarship semifinalists at Staples High School are, from left, Chloe Nevas, Emma Alcyone, Natalie Bandura, Maxwell Tanksley,  Zachary Bishop,  Michael Brody and Julian Weng. / Contributed photo

WESTPORT — Seven Staples High School seniors have qualified as semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, school officials announced Friday.

Class of 2022 semifinalists are: Emma Alcyone, Natalie Bandura, Zachary Bishop, Michael Brody, Chloe Nevas, Maxwell Tanksley and Julian Weng

“It is an extraordinary honor for these students to be recognized for their academic abilities,” Staples Principal Stafford Thomas Jr. said in the announcement, “and an honor for our school because each of these students demonstrate talents and passions beyond academics every day, making them wonderful representatives of the Westport public schools.”

Nationwide, approximately 16,000 semifinalists — fewer than one percent of more than 1.5 million students who took the 2020 PSAT/NMSQT qualifying exam — will compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million, according to the release.