Jared Munneke of Oconee County High School was recently named a Semifinalist in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.Jared is one of 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide and now has the opportunity to continue in the competition for a National Merit Scholarship award.

The initial screen of program entrants was through taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of the U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total graduating seniors.

Jared is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Munneke of Bishop.