Submitted Photo • Schatzi Jore, a homeschooled senior from Williston, is a semi-finalist for a National Merit Scholarship Award and has participated in many events during her high school years.

WILLISTON – Like many high school seniors, Schatzi Jore is filled with plans for the future, but she might have a little more time to devote to her dreams than other seniors. Jore, a semi-finalist for a National Merit Scholarship, has been homeschooled most of her young life. “It’s quite informal,” she said of her schooling. “You’re required to do a certain number of hours a day ... but if there’s something going on from 9 to 2 I can do that and you can do schoolwork in the evening.” Now 18, she’s pretty involved in her own schooling and her interests direct a lot of what she studies and what textbooks are ordered for her classes. That independence gives her a lot of freedom to participate in different activities, too, like regional, state and international science fairs, where she has been an award winner all through high school. “I do something new every year,” said Jore. “Sometimes my ideas come from personal experience and sometimes they’re just out of the blu.