National Merit Scholarship semifinalists announced

The National Merit Scholarship Program recently announced the names of the 16,000 high school seniors who are semifinalists in competition for nearly 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards worth over $30 million.

This is the 51st year for the academic awards.

The National Merit Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success.

In the Las Virgenes and Oak Park Unified school districts, 19 students were named to the semifinalist list of academically highachieving high school seniors. To be considered for the scholarship money, semifinalists will need to become scholarship finalists.

Contest officials said nearly 90 percent of the semifinalists will be named finalists; about half of the finalists will ultimately win scholarships.

The scholarship money will be awarded next spring, in time to help college-bound students pay for ever-rising tuition costs.

From the two school districts, Calabasas High School had the most number of semifinalists on the list with nine students.

“It is important for us as a school community to acknowledge the attainment of academically talented students and credit and affirm the professional teachers that are at Calabasas High School,” said Joe Skaff, Calabasas High School’s assistant principal.

Said David Jackson, CHS principal, “It is a tremendous accomplishment for the students, their parents and the teachers at CHS for them to reach this accomplishment.” ounced

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, an Illinois-based nonprofit company founded in 1955, the semifinalists must fulfill several requirements before they can become scholarship finalists.

To be considered as a finalist, students must maintain outstanding grades, receive a recommendation from the school principal and earn a high score on the SAT.

Those who do qualify will submit a detailed application, which includes both a personal history essay and a resume of activities demonstrating student leadership at school and throughout the community.

The $30 million in scholarships will be awarded by nearly 300 local and national businesses, as well as some 200 colleges and universities throughout the U.S.

Over 1.3 million high school juniors from 21,000 U.S. high schools were initially considered for the scholarships.