UPDATE: Two additional award winners have been announced, one finalist and one semifinalist, at Walt Whitman High School. The additional finalist is Thomas Hsieh. The updated information is below.

Montgomery County Public Schools 12th grade students have won 267 finalist and semifinalist awards in the Maryland Distinguished Scholars program, honoring students throughout the state for their exceptional academic achievement or their talent in the visual and performing arts.

They include 121 finalist awards (103 academic and 18 in the arts) and 146 semifinalist awards (133 academic and 13 in the arts). All county high schools were represented in the program. Every finalist will be offered a renewable annual scholarship of $3,000 for undergraduate study at a Maryland college or university.

Semifinalists are offered scholarships not used by finalists. All program honorees will receive a certificate of achievement or talent and will have their names sent to all public and private colleges and universities in Maryland.

Applicants in the achievement category, who must have an unweighted grade point average of at least 3.7 on a 4.0 scale, are ranked on the basis of GPA and SAT/PSAT/ACT test scores. Student talent nominees (vocal and instrumental music, dance, drama and visual arts) must audition before a panel of professionals. National Merit and National Achievement finalists, identified in their senior year in high school, are automatically eligible for the scholarship.

The following list shows the total number of finalists and semifinalists at each school (including arts honorees in parentheses).

§ Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School: 6 finalists (3 in arts), 4 semifinalists
§ Montgomery Blair High School: 25 finalists (3 in arts), 14 semifinalists
§ James Hubert Blake High School: 5 finalists (2 in arts), 3 semifinalists
§ Winston Churchill High School: 12 finalists (1 in arts), 25 semifinalists
§ Damascus High School: 4 finalists (1 in arts), 5 semifinalists (1 in arts)
§ Albert Einstein High School (including the Visual Arts Center): 4 finalists (2 in arts), 3 semifinalists (2 in arts)
§ Gaithersburg High School: 2 finalists, 1 semifinalist
§ Walter Johnson High School: 7 finalists, 11 semifinalists
§ John F. Kennedy Hgih School: 2 finalists (1 in arts)
§ Col. Zadok Magruder High School: 9 semifinalists (1 in arts)
§ Richard Montgomery High School: 20 finalists (1 in arts), 18 semifinalists (2 in arts)
§ Northwest High School: 2 finalists, 4 semifinalists
§ Paint Branch High School: 1 finalist, 1 semifinalist
§ Poolesville High School: 2 finalists (1 in arts), 2 semifinalists (1 in arts)
§ Quince Orchard High School: 7 finalists (1 in arts), 5 semifinalists (1 in arts)
§ Rockville High School: 1 finalist, 2 semifinalists
§ Seneca Valley High School: 1 semifinalist
§ Sherwood High School: 5 semifinalists
§ Springbrook High School: 1 finalist, 4 semifinalists
§ Watkins Mill High School: 2 finalists (1 in arts), 4 semifinalists
§ Wheaton High School: 1 semifinalist
§ Walt Whitman High School: 10 finalists, 13 semifinalists
§ Thomas S. Wootton High School: 8 finalists (2 in arts), 11 semifinalists.