The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced Hood River Valley High School senior Cole Shepherd as a Commended Student in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program. A letter of Commendation from the school and NMSC, which conducts the program, has been presented to this scholastically talented senior.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although Cole will not continue in the 2016 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of the more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2016 competition by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT (PSAT).