Wenatchee High School senior Elizabeth Tchitchkan has been named as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. Award semifinalists had the highest scores on the 2018 PSAT, a test taken by 1.5 million juniors this past year.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) was established in 1955 — a time in which there was concern that the United States was lagging behind in the cold war scientific race, but the public was indifferent to rewarding intellectual accomplishment. In response, the National Merit Scholarship Program was founded to identify and honor scholastically talented American youth and to encourage them to develop their abilities to the fullest. Through this nationwide competition National Merit Scholarships are awarded to program Finalists and Special Scholarships are awarded to other high performing participants who meet a corporate sponsor's eligibility criteria.