13 County Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

Thirteen students from Prince George’s County Public Schools have been named semifinalists in the 2015 National Achievement Scholarship Program, according to a news release.

“Our students continue to make us proud,” said Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer for PGCPS. “Congratulations to all of these students and I wish them well in the next round of the competition.”

Students who will join the national competition for 800 Achievement Scholarship awards, totaling more than $2.5 million are:

• Lauren A. Anderson (Bowie High School)
• Pendo M. Abbo (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Hilary A. Bediako (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Briana S. Chambers (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Ivie E. Ebhojiaye (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Carl P. Graham (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Kanan Mehta (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Kameron X. Sheppard (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
• Eugene R. Green (Oxon Hill High School)
• Obichi Onwukwe (Parkdale High School)
• Jacquelyn E. Chin (Charles H. Flowers High School)
• Reina N. Lipscomb (Charles H. Flowers High School)
• Dakotah E. Horace (Largo High School)

Students were selected as semifinalists from more than 160,000 juniors from high schools across the nation for their outstanding performance on the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

From the approximately 1,600 semifinalists, 1,300 are expected to advance to the finalist level in January. National Achievement Scholarship winners will then be selected from this group based on their abilities, accomplishments and potential success in rigorous college studies.