Evanston Students, Schools Named Among National Merit Winners

EVANSTON, IL — Students at three Evanston high schools and an Evanston resident attending school in Wilmette have been awarded $2,500 scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The 2,500 students selected were chosen from an initial screen of students taking the preliminary SAT test at more than 22,000 high schools across the country, the organization announced. The latest group of Merit Scholar designees includes one student each from Beacon Academy, Evanston Township High School, Roycemore School and an Evanston resident set to graduate Loyola Academy.

The winners were picked by a panel of college and high school staff who evaluated students by the difficulty of their academic record, test scores, activities in and out of school, an essay and a letter of recommendation. According to the organization, the number of students named in Illinois is proportional to the state's percentage of graduating high school seniors nationwide.

Among the local Merit Scholars:

• James C. Porter, Evanston Township High School
• Annelise L. Goldman, Beacon Academy
• Louisa M. Edwards, Loyola Academy
• Benjamin M. Hurley, Roycemore School

According to National Merit, Goldman has a probable career field of earth science, Hurley is interested in studying marine biology and Porter is probably pursuing mathematics.

The Evanston-based organization finances most of the single-payment scholarships, which can be used at any regionally accredited college or university in the country. However, some are provided by corporations in lieu of paying administrative fees, including one awarded to an Evanston student from Sony Electronics.

Last month, the organization named more than 1,000 recipients of corporate-sponsored awards mostly open to the children of employees of participating companies. In June and July, about 4,000 winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships will be announced. By the end of this year's competition, more than $31 million in scholarships will have been awarded to about 7,500 students.