Madison ranks top district in state for National Merit Semifinalists
These students from James Clemens High School are National Merit Semifinalists: Christopher Lobo, front from left, Jason Mahdi, Urvi Mysore, Hannah Park, Sahishnu Saha, Sivaneyan Sezhian, Manasa Vadapalli and Erik Wu. Luke Alverson, back from left, Nirban Bajaj, Andrew Bendickson, Ethan Brewer, Isaac Caldwell, Renee Drayton, Principal Dr. Kerry Donaldson, Arjunsingh Gaikwad, Andrew Gohlich, Oviya Gowder, Yooyeon Hwang, Alexander Kulkarni and Bailey Lintz. CONTRIBUTED
These students from Bob Jones High School are National Merit Semifinalists: Aurora Lang, front from left, Caroline Kokan, Judith Miller, Mary Miller, Shlok Chatterjee, Molly Halter, Evan Coker, Sally Wang, Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols and David Gunasekaran. Principal Sylvia Lambert, back from left, Sophia Johnson, Hubert Pan, Zachary Calinsky, Benjamin Landingham, Cohen Yates, Ian McIntosh, Tevin Sheehy, Justin Roh and Steven Pan.
MCS has 38 semifinalists, the most of any school system in the state. Furthermore, these students account for the most semifinalists that MCS has ever produced.
James Clemens has 20 semifinalists, while 18 semifinalists attend Bob Jones. “That combined total is the most of the 141 Alabama school districts statewide, regardless of size,” MCS Public Relations Manager John Peck said.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program. This program is an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships. Established in 1955, National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a privately financed not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.
The competition is open to all U.S. high school students who meet published participation requirements. Scholarship winners are chosen based on their abilities, skills and accomplishments — without regard to gender, race, ethnicity or religious preference. (nationalmerit.org)
Semifinalists from James Clemens are Luke Alverson, Nirban Bajaj, Andrew Bendickson, Ethan Brewer, Isaac Caldwell, Renee Drayton, Arjunsingh Gaikwad, Andrew Gohlich, Oviya Gowder, Yooyeon Hwang, Alexander Kulkarni, Bailey Lintz, Christopher Lobo, Jason Mahdi, Urvi Mysore, Hannah Park, Sahishnu Saha, Sivaneyan Sezhian, Manasa Vadapalli and Erik Wu.
Semifinalists from Bob Jones are Aurora Lang, Caroline Kokan, Judith Miller, Mary Miller, Shlok Chatterjee, Molly Halter, Evan Coker, Sally Wang, David Gunasekaran, Sophia Johnson, Hubert Pan, Zachary Calinsky, Benjamin Landingham, Cohen Yates, Ian McIntosh, Tevin Sheehy, Justin Roh and Steven Pan.
MCS Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said he is proud of the students for their hard work and for the teachers that prepared them from the earliest grades on up. Nichols credited the strong foundation of MCS set by past and present leadership that continues through the unwavering support of parents, community leaders, board of education members, principals, administrators and dedicated teachers and staff in elementary, middle and high schools.
Most of Madison’s National Merit Semifinalists attended MCS from elementary school to grade 12. Nichols said this standing is a credit to outstanding teachers and staffs in elementary and middle schools, along with both high schools.
“These results once again prove that it does not matter where you live or go to school in Madison. Every school is one of the nation’s best,” Nichols said.
The nationwide pool of National Merit Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. They are the highest scoring students in each state on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit scholarship Qualifying Test or PSAT/NMSQT that they took as juniors. They will be competing for 7,500 National Merit scholarships worth approximately $30 million.
For more information, visit nationalmerit.org.
