WCPSS seniors named 2006 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists
September 13, 2005 - More than 50 WCPSS high school seniors were among the 16,000 semi finalists named today in the 51st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
These students have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards worth $33 million that will be offered next spring.
WCPSS seniors named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist include:
- Apex High: Melissa M. Asmar, Elisha B. Bullen, Matthew J. Cowan, Julie A. David, Andrew Dunn, Jenna L. Hayes, Elizabeth J. Komar, Rachel L. Will, Angela Q. Yang.
- Athens Drive High: Brittany P. Burchett, Weiting Cao, Christopher Casto-Rappl, David A. Romney, Jill Willette
- Broughton High: Bryan Fox, Richard E. Hubbard, Jeremy Kay, Elizabeth Lacks, Hieu C. Nguyen, Marc Taris, David J. West
- Cary High: Bryce J. Winsor, Charles E. Wolf
- Enloe High: Priyadarshini Asokan, Camille J. Beasley, Trevor A. Brothers, Thomas M. Dresser, Haseeb S. Fatmi, Philip D. Jones, Ivan J. Kirov, Rachel V. Langlois, Shin-Ping C. Lao, Charlotte J. Lloyd, Joseph W. McLean, Tyler S. Mollenkopf, Joseph J. Schmitt, Rebecca L. Shareff, Alexander P. Van Esbroeck, Gefei Zhang
- Fuquay-Varina High: Ryan Johnson
- Garner High: Lindsey M. Harris, Rachel J. Mangum
- Green Hope High: Erin A. Black, David A. Carroll, Brennan R. Eberle
- Leesville Road High: Jennifer M. Dawson, Nicole Pinter, Ren C. Wilson
- Middle Creek High: Katherine S. Booker, Lucas M. Brown, Amy E. Humphrey
- Southeast Raleigh High: Katherine L. Gleason, John H. Petitte
- Wakefield High: John C. McKenney
To become a finalists for a Merit Scholarship Award, semi finalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout the high school years, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier qualifying test performance. The semi finalist and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student's self-descriptive essay and information about the student's participation and leadership in school and community activities.
From the 15,000 students selected as finalists, Merit Scholars will be selected on the basis of their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Three types of Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in 2006. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis. In addition, some 300 corporations and business organizations will underwrite 1,100 corporate-sponsored scholarships for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor's employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. Also, about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend that four-year institution.
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