Three CCSD Students named National Merit Semifinalists

From Clarke County Schools

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced the names of its semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Three academically talented high school seniors tapped in Clarke County now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

“I commend our semifinalists for their achievement at this level,” said Superintendent Philip D. Lanoue. “These students excel – not only on national standardized tests – but also in their coursework, as well as in a variety of activities in which they are involved. I wish these students well on their path to graduation, as well as post-secondary success.”

Those named National Merit Semifinalists are:

Cedar Shoals High School

• Grace Yuh, daughter of Minsoo and Kunkoo Yuh

Clarke Central High School

• Samuel Thompson, son of Julie and Daniel Thompson
• Tomislav Zabcic-Matic, son of Gordana Matic and Miljenko Zabcic

In addition, Clarke Central High School student Nike Shimobi-Obijuru, daughter of Helena Atwater, was named a National Achievement Semifinalist. This program was created in 1964 to provide recognition for outstanding African-American high school students. Also, Marina Byrne, Ana Sherer-Estevez, Eliot Zapata and Guillermo Zapata received commendation from the National Hispanic Recognition Program.

Also, several students have been named Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are in the top 5% of all 2013 PSAT test-takers. These are: Cedar Shoals students Abbey Campbell, Claudia Davis and Grace Yuh, as well as Clarke Central students: Aaron Holmes, Talley Parrish, Ana Sherer-Estevez, Nike Shimobi-Obijuru, Samuel Thompson, Tomislav Zabcic-Matic, Eliot Zapata and Guillermo Zapata.

Around 1.4 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

For more information about the competition, please visit www.nationalmerit.org.

The Clarke County School District was named the state’s Title I Distinguished District for closing the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. The district is a state-level model technology school district, 2014 NAMM Best Communities in Music Education and has a nationally innovative Professional Development School District partnership with the University of Georgia. Graduates are offered upwards of $3 million in scholarships annually, not including the HOPE.