(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – The Alabama State Department of Education has released the 2013 list of students who are National Merit Scholarship recipients.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation awards its prestigious scholarships to seniors in Alabama public high schools.

Winners of National Merit Corporation scholarship from Bob Jones were Victoria N. Florence with The Boeing Company Scholarship and Kenneth Fu and Martin A. Wang with the Siemens Corporation Scholarship.

Sydney A. Creekmore and Claire L. Zhang of Bob Jones earned Auburn University scholarships, while Russell A. Buck received the University of Alabama funding.

Other National Merit recipients from Madison County included Nicholas T. Sparkman of Grissom High School with the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Scholarship and Kelly B. Walters of Sparkman High School earning the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) Scholarship.

Earning the Auburn University Scholarship were Zoe R. Tucker of Grissom and Chay Otte of Buckhorn High School.

The Texas Christian University Scholarship went to Adam F. Beasley of Huntsville High School. John R. Miller of Huntsville High received the Mississippi State University Scholarship. The University of Kentucky Scholarship was awarded to Dawn Margret Reynolds of Grissom.

Both seniors at Huntsville High, Sydney P. Larsen and Maxwell Moseley won the University of Dallas Scholarship, along with the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship.

“The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) is a multiple-choice test that measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities important to performing college-level work,” Sheila Roberts said. Roberts is college and career advisor at Bob Jones.

“The PSAT/NMSQT is the qualifying exam for students wishing to participate in competitions with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation,” Roberts said.

Juniors must have taken the 2012 PSAT/NMSQT to enter the 2013 scholarship programs that the National Merit Corporation conducts. “All U. S. citizens who take the PSAT/NMSQT during the proper year in high school and meet other publicized eligibility requirements may participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program,” Roberts said.