Luxemburg-Casco senior Rylen Hinckley named National Merit semifinalist

LUXEMBURG-CASCO – Rylen Hinckley, an L-C senior, has been named a semifinalist in 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. He now has the chance to compete for one of 6,930 National Merit Scholarships, valued at nearly $26 million, which will be awarded next spring.

“The first time I heard about [the scholarship] was my sophomore year. I don’t remember exactly where I heard of it, but I saw the information about how it was for your PSAT score. I remember telling my mom to sign me up for it that year, not realizing that you have to use your junior year score, but it prepared me for taking the PSAT my junior year,” Hinckley said.

More than 1.3 million juniors in roughly 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The nationwide pool of 16,000+ semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Hinckley qualified for the scholarship pool thanks to his PSAT scores, and felt he needed to take advantage of his chance.

“Not many people are given the opportunity to apply for the scholarship, so I figured if I get my one shot, no point in just sitting around idly and not taking it,” Hinckley said.

Hinckley received a letter of recommendation from L-C Social Studies and English Teacher Katie Waege, and was subsequently named as a semifinalist. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of

the competition. These include submission of a detailed scholarship application that includes information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. Semifinalists are also required to write and submit an essay demonstrating clear self-expression and reflecting on personal experiences or influential people. Hinckley said his choice in subject was easy.

“My biggest mentor is my mom [Debra Kaye]. For the first five years of my life, she raised me as a single mother. For the next five after that, she essentially raised me as a single mother. After that, she met my stepdad [Jeremy Kaye]. So I’ve had a good, stable household after that, but she’s continued to help me with sports, academia — the whole nine yards,” Hinckley said.

Hinckley is a member of the L-C soccer team in addition to his academic pursuits, which he said he has learned to balance after a challenging start.

“It kind of was a struggle in the first bit of the year, with the season and having practices every night and sometimes having homework on those same nights,” Hinckley said. “Freshman classes were more sitting around and hanging out with my friends, whereas now it’s college-level AP classes.”

Hinckley has learned to manage that load with a consistent schedule.

“I’ve had to be a lot more disciplined in getting home after practice, not just instantly relaxing. I’ve had to develop a discipline to get the work done right away,” he said.

Hinckley is also a member of L-C’s math team, which was a non-competitive team his freshman and sophomore years. He became a member his junior year, when the team joined the Packerland Math League, and was named the number one junior in the league.

Hinckley also volunteers with the Indoor Football League, which is typically an internship. However, he said he enjoys participating in the community and already works at Beam and Board Reclaimed Lumber LLC in Green Bay.

Although Hinckley is competing with thousands of other students across the country for a chance at one of the scholarships, he feels his chances are good.

Hinckley hopes to pursue environmental engineering, but isn’t sure yet where he wants to go to school. His choice will be influenced by the scholarship program, but he said he’s considering schools like UW-Madison.

“If I can get in, MIT would be amazing,” Hinckley said.

The Luxemburg-Casco School District has expressed its pride in Hinckley.

“We applaud Rylen for being one of the top academic performers in the United States,” L-C High School Principal Tyson Tlachac said. “He is an excellent representative of the high academic standards of the Luxemburg-Casco School District.”

Students who advance to the Finalist level will be notified in February 2026. The National Merit scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide press releases from April through July of next year.