Notre Dame's Southard is National Merit Scholarship finalist

Notre Dame Regional High School senior Claire Southard has been named a finalist in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Notre Dame principal Tim R. Garner announced the honor and will present Southard with a Certificate of Merit from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corp. (NMSC), which conducts the program.

Southard is one of approximately 15,000 finalists in the 66th annual program. These high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million in total that will be offered next spring. More than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference, according to the organization.

Southard is the daughter of Stephen and Julie Southard of Cape Girardeau. She is the president of the National Honor Society, vice president of the Spanish National Honor Society and member of the French National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society, according to a news release from Notre Dame.

She is the team captain of the varsity Scholar Bowl Team and a member of the varsity girls tennis team with All-District, All-Conference, All-Southeast Missouri and All-State honors. Southard has participated in the Notre Dame Band for four years, as well as the District Honor Band, District Music Festival and State Music Festival, along with top ratings achieved through MSHSAA music competitions, according to the release.

Southard has earned a Christian Service Award the past three years, and she is a member of the French Club, the Quill and Scroll Club and the Peer Tutoring Program. She is also a candidate for the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

In August, Notre Dame announced Southard earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36 and a perfect score in the English, mathematics, reading and science sections of the test.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization operating without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC's goals of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence, according to the organization.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2021 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. The scholarship recipients will join more than 353,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.