2 Shaker Students Earn Corporate Scholarships

SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH - Two Shaker Heights High School seniors have been named recipients of the corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards. Karissa Huang and Nicholas Masso will receive scholarships that are financed by corporations, company foundations, or other business organizations.

Huang will receive her award from the PPG Foundation. Masso will receive his award from Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

More than 1,000 high school seniors from across the nation competed for the corporate-sponsored awards. All winners were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level of the National Merit Scholarship competition.

Most of the awards can be renewed for four years while students work towards and undergraduate degree. The awards range from $500 to $10,000, some will provide a lump sum payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

The awards are usable to any American college or university.

The winners of the National Merit $2,500 Scholarships will be announced on May 10. Winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be announced between June 7 and July 17.

Thirteen members of the Shaker Heights High School Class of 2017 were named Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.This year's National Merit Semifinalists are Zachary Brown, Rachel Brunot, Edith Duncan, Karissa Huang, Samuel Katz, Nicholas Masso, Andrew Maytin, Rose McCandless, Declan O'Connor, Nora Spadoni, Harry Steinberg, Aishwarya Suresh and Isabel Wang.

These students earned scores on the PSAT taken in their junior year that were among the highest in the state and qualified them as a National Merit Scholar semifinalist. The number of semifinalists varies from state to state, as the number selected is proportional to the percentage of the total number of graduating seniors in each state.

Photo from Shaker Heights Schools