Award Programs

The counseling office communicates information to GVHS seniors related to local scholarships. Most applications become available to students mid to late February via the students’ Canvas accounts. Application deadlines are mid to late March. Applicants are notified via email in May if they have been awarded a scholarship. Recipients and families attend the annual Senior Awards Reception along with faculty, staff and the scholarship sponsors.

The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. Approximately 1.5 million high school students enter the program each year. High School students who meet published program entry and participation requirements enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) at the specified time in the high school program, usually as juniors. 

Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. In September, these high scorers are notified through their schools that they have qualified as either Commended Students or Semifinalists.

For more information, visit the National Merit Scholaship Program website.

The President’s Volunteer Service Award is currently on pause as decided by AmeriCorps. For more information, please visit: https://presidentialserviceawards.gov/.