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Thirteen Twelfth Grade Students Named Semifinalists in the 1999 National Achievement Scholarship Program

October 5, 1999
Thirteen MCPS seniors have been named semifinalists in the 1999 National Achievement Scholarship Program for outstanding African American students.

They are among some 1,500 semifinalists nationally, selected from more than 100,000 African American students for their high scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the Illinois-based organization that administers the program.

The local students account for 25 percent of the 52 semifinalists in Maryland compared with last year's 12 MCPS semifinalists, who accounted for 19 percent of the 52 semifinalists statewide.

The semifinalists will compete for more than 700 Achievement Scholarships, to be awarded next spring for college undergraduate study.

The local semifinalists are:

  • Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

  • Lindsey E. Bradford

  • Veronica Joice

  • Montgomery Blair High School

  • Chantal A. Gordon

  • Peter N. Okolo

  • Elizabeth S. Todd

  • Elizabeth M. Woodson

  • Richard Montgomery High School

  • Leslie A. Robinson

  • Northwest High School

  • Esther E. Davies-Venn

  • Sherwood High School

  • Kenan J. Zamore

  • Springbrook High School

  • Stephanie M. Mason

  • Walt Whitman High School

  • Amsalu A. Dabela

  • Kristen M. Osborne

  • Thomas S. Wootton High School

  • Temitope O. Fadiran

    About 1,200 semifinalists are expected to be selected as finalists based on criteria including high academic performance, principals' recommendations and SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance. All scholarship winners will be chosen from the finalists on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments and potential for academic success in college.

    Three kinds of awards will be offered. Every finalist will be considered for one of 440 National Achievement $2000 scholarships, awarded on a regional representational basis.

    Corporations, foundations and professional associations will finance about 160 scholarships for finalists who meet the sponsor's preferential criteria. Colleges and universities are expected to provide an additional 100 awards for finalists who plan to attend the sponsoring institutions.

    In 1999, three MCPS seniors won Achievement Scholarships.

    Winners of both National Achievement $2,000 Scholarships and corporate sponsored awards will be announced in late March 2000. College sponsored Achievement Scholarship recipients will be announced in late June.

    Since the first Achievement Scholars were named in 1965, more than 21,000 outstanding African American students have received awards worth $67 million.

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