For several years, there has been a push by various communities, agencies and government organizations to keep local high school students local after they graduate high school. 

Cambridge High School seniors, l to r, Carson Campbell, Cinjin Gibson, Emma Krise, Madison Peters, Kennedy Ellis and Brynn Eubanks, along with Anastasia Bergeson (not pictured) have been selected for Governor’s Merit Scholarships.The State of Ohio recently started a Governor’s Merit Scholarship that provides up to $5,000 annually for top performing Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio. 

The Governor Merit Scholarship winners from Cambridge are Kennedy Ellis, Brynn Eubanks, Emma Krise, Carson Campbell, Anastasia Bergeson, Madison Peters, and Cinjin Gibson.

According to research shared by the Ohio Governor’s office, 35-40 percent of Ohio’s best and brightest high school graduates attend college or university in another state. Approximately 66 percent of all U.S. college students stay to work in the state from which they graduate, and in Ohio that number is closer to 70 percent. 

In an effort to keep Ohio students in Ohio and provide a well-educated workforce for the businesses in Ohio, the state has established the Governor’s Merit Scholarship (GMS) program. The main objective of the GMS is to incentivize Ohio’s high achieving high school students to attend college in Ohio.

Based on the state budget, each school in Ohio received a specified number of scholarships to award the top five percent of the graduating class. There is not an application process. At Cambridge, the top five percent of seniors based on Grade Point Average (GPA) were selected. 

Madison Peters, National Merit ScholarIn the fall, senior Madison Peters was named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist by earning a qualifying score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Peters’ test results made her one of approximately 16,000 students nationwide recognized as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist by the officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1.3 million students in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Since then, Peters fulfilled the requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition and is considered a National Merit Scholar. 

National Merit Scholar designees are selected based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Peters is still considering college opportunities and would like to pursue a career in book publishing and editing. 

She is the daughter of Cecil and Rachael Peters and has a brother, Jacob, who is a freshman.