5 Decatur High Students Are Natl. Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

DECATUR, GA. -- Five Decatur High School seniors have been named among the 16,000 semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The students have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring. Over 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half
of those will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.

From Decatur High School, they are:

• Sydney L. Balcom
• Aiden A. Gibbs
• Martha J. Leach
• Maxime R. Tirouvanziam
• Ruiqi Zhang

Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria.

In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to fi nance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

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