MADISON – Alexa K. Wade, a senior at James Clemens High School, has been named a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

Alexa K. Wade, shown here in a recent prom photograph, is a National Achievement Semifinalist. (CONTRIBUTED)

As a National Achievement Semifinalist, Wade rated a qualifying score on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). “To qualify as a finalist, I have to complete the National Achievement Scholarship application, take the SAT and submit an essay,” Wade said.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance. Founded in 1964, the program recognizes academically promising black students throughout the country.

A substantial number of the most outstanding participants earn scholarships. To-date, approximately 32,700 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $103 million.

Wade’s favorite subject at James Clemens is science. “The most interesting class that I have taken at James Clemens was probably medical interventions. I learned a lot in that class about genetics, which I find very interesting. I also liked the labs,” she said.

She participates with varsity soccer, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), Interact Club, Junior Civitan and Peer Helpers, who help in mediation among students and in conflicts.

Wade was inducted into the National Honor Society, Math Honor Society and French Honor Society. “I was awarded the ‘Most Outstanding Player’ award on the James Clemens soccer team my junior year and made the nominal ‘Huntsville Times’ Elite Girls Soccer Team,” she said.

With the Interact Club, Wade has collected movies for children in Huntsville Hospital. “We’re currently sponsoring a girl in Haiti. Over the summer, I also volunteer in teachers’ classrooms and help them organize everything for the new school year,” she said.

Wade also volunteers at the annual Camp Meeting at Oakwood University.

Still considering her college choices, Wade is leaning toward Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She plans to major in genetics.

Her hobbies include club soccer, running and reading. Her parents are Kerwin and Sherry Wade.