A recent graduate of Mid-Prairie High School has been named one of the recipients of a national scholarship. It was announced Wednesday that Jonah Van Roekel of Wellman was one of 2,500 students in the nation to be awarded the National Merit Scholarship.

Roekel will receive between 500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years for his college education. He plans on pursuing a degree in zoology at Oklahoma State University.

The process started in 2012 when 1.5 million juniors from 22,000 high schools entered the scholarship competition by taking the pSAT. Finalists were announced last fall, and the winners were chosen based on their applications and their actual score on the SAT.

The scholarship program is financed by colleges in the Unites States, and students are chosen by the college they plan on attending in the fall.