146 High School Seniors Named Semifinalists in 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program

EVANSTON, IL & GEORGETOWN, MOUNT PLEASANT, NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – September 16, 2009 – One hundred forty-six students in 59 public high schools across South Carolina are among the 16,000 semifinalists announced today in the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship program.  They will vie for 8,200 scholarships worth more than $36 million that will be offered next spring.

About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and approximately half of those will eventually earn a scholarship, according to the non-profit National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 

The Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville had the largest number of students attaining semifinalist status – 15.  Pickens County’s D.W. Daniel High School had 12 students make the grade.

“I congratulate all of our semifinalists for their pursuit of academic excellence,” said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.  “Semifinalist status puts them in the top one percent of our nation’s high school seniors and proves they are truly scholastic champions.” 

Seven home-schooled students in the state also qualified as semifinalists, along with 34 students from 12 private schools.  More than 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screening.

The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.  To advance to the finalist stage, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier  performance on the qualifying test. 

A detailed scholarship application – including an essay and information about the student’s participation and leadership in school and community activities – also is required.  Merit Scholars will be selected from the finalist pool on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.  Scholarship awards will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning next April and concluding in July.   

Public School Semifinalists: 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program

AIKEN
AIKEN HIGH SCHOOL
Berning, Aric W.
ANDERSON
T. L. HANNA HIGH SCHOOL
Brdar, Larissa J.
WESTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Hubbard, Lewis R.
Madden, Nathaniel G.
AYNOR
AYNOR HIGH SCHOOL
Christy, Denrey H.
BARNWELL
BARNWELL HIGH SCHOOL
Eubanks, Cameron L.
Navarro, David A.
BLUFFTON
BLUFFTON HIGH SCHOOL
Gwozdz, William C.
BLYTHEWOOD
BLYTHEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
Pifer, Brittany N.
CENTRAL
D. W. DANIEL HIGH SCHOOL
Balakrishnan, Nandita N.
Castle, Samuel T.
Creager, Rachael A.
Dave, Krupesh
Greenstein, Seth M.
Hawthorne, Elizabeth A.
Khan, Haaris S.
Lauria, Michael D.
McLellan, Lara L.
Schalkoff, Christine A.
Schleifer, Anna H.
Zhang, Andrew S.
CHAPIN
CHAPIN HIGH SCHOOL
Burkhalter, Lawton C.
Canyes, Matthew
Sims, Daphne A.
CLOVER
CLOVER HIGH SCHOOL
Waddill, Sarah E.
COLUMBIA
DREHER HIGH SCHOOL
Cross, Caroline E.
Day, Allison M.
Robinson, Thomas C.
Teal, Stuart B.
Yogodzinski, Alexander H.
A. C. FLORA HIGH SCHOOL
Nix, Meredith P.
Soni, Sean C.
Stinnette, William W.
Sunday, Mackenzie A.
VanDine, Alexandra C.
IRMO HIGH SCHOOL
Hood, Charles M.
Treacy, David E.
RICHLAND NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL
Theus, Sarah G.
RIDGE VIEW HIGH SCHOOL
Dowdell, Ellen C.
Waggoner, Emily C.
SPRING VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
Avali, Soorya R.
Baker, Shannon P.
Byrd, Travis M.
Deeconda, Anurag
Rhym, Luke H.
Rickman, McKenzie A.
CONWAY
CONWAY HIGH SCHOOL
Chestnut, Logan S.
FLORENCE
WILSON HIGH SCHOOL
Dong, David Yixuan
Jiang, Timothy
Palles, Blake A.
FORT MILL
FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL
Daubenspeck, Lindsey G.
Koverman, Nathan J.
NATION FORD HIGH SCHOOL
Baker, Samantha D.
Sibley, Claire A.
Tkacik, Thomas J.
GEORGETOWN
GEORGETOWN HIGH SCHOOL
Crosby, Emily B.
GOOSE CREEK
STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL
Taylor, Kelly C.
GREENVILLE
GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL – ARTS & HUMANITIES
Bray, Kailey E.
Frey, Carrie J.
Starnes, Abby
GREENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Hamilton, Hugh B.
GREENVILLE TECHNICAL
CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL
Hapstack, Christopher M.
WADE HAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL
Maris, Evelyn S.
McCullough, Ashley L.
Turner, Sarah E.
JAMES L. MANN HIGH SCHOOL
Absher, John A.
DeGroote, Kiersty M.
Hendricks, Caroline M.
Russell, Brian C.
SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Beaudoin, Judith M.
Cole, Benjamin L.
Kumar, Akshay
Lin, Mingzhe
Mangelsen, Joseph S.
Sabripour, Ashley M.
Wolff, Maximilian E.
GREENWOOD
EMERALD HIGH SCHOOL
Richardson, Ryan W.
GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
Castillo, Keila E.
GREER
BLUE RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
Livingston, Rebecca M.
RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Bhatia, Runjhun
Brushaber, Jessica L.
Chen, Hannah X.
Danescu, Irina
Hong, Charlene S.
HARTSVILLE
GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL – SCIENCE & MATH
Armstrong, Rowan L.
Broeker, Kayla J.
Carr, Alexis R.
Chang, Alice Y.
Cox, China G.
Errazo, Dominic Ranz E.
Griffin, Millie
Hamid, Ramiz N.
Harruff, Elizabeth E.
Jenkins, Lee A.
Lee, Somin
McManus, James F.
Rassolov, Peter V.
Sudlow, Alice T.
Sung, David S.
IRMO
DUTCH FORK HIGH SCHOOL
Drake, Kristina M.
Tabassum, Nazia
LANCASTER
LANCASTER HIGH SCHOOL
Brown, Cody M.
LAURENS
LAURENS DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL
Pearson, Rebecca S.
LEXINGTON
LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
Crosby, Lauren E.
Easterbrook, Rachel M.
Roberts, Brenden
WHITE KNOLL HIGH SCHOOL
Harrison, Kaylee A.
McFarland, Rachel E.
MAULDIN
MAULDIN HIGH SCHOOL
Deshpande, Natasha G.
MOUNT PLEASANT
WANDO HIGH SCHOOL
Clauhs, Abigail E.
Glenn, Rosena F.
Musheff, Andrew T.
MURRELLS INLET
ST. JAMES HIGH SCHOOL
Arruda, Isley M.

MYRTLE BEACH
CAROLINA FOREST HIGH SCHOOL
Gruber, Yuko M.
Ujcich, Benjamin E.
MYRTLE BEACH HIGH SCHOOL
Pendleton, Courtney A.
NINETY-SIX
NINETY-SIX HIGH SCHOOL
Ehlers, Ashley N.
NORTH AUGUSTA
NORTH AUGUSTA HIGH SCHOOL
Carter, Caitlin E.
NORTH CHARLESTON
ACADEMIC MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL
Bradley, Luke A.
Calloway, Jacqueline A.
Hoffman, Susanna H.
Kousik, Shreyas
Liu, Andrew Z.
Mao, Zhehao
Mixson, Linus
Rahn, Elizabeth G.
CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL
OF THE ARTS
Nicholson, David A.
FORT DORCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL
Dumouchel, Christine R.
Nagle, Christopher M.
PICKENS
PICKENS HIGH SCHOOL
Lawson, James M.

PIEDMONT
WREN HIGH SCHOOL
Whaite, Stephen M.
ROCK HILL
SOUTH POINTE HIGH SCHOOL
Hossain, Manal W.
ROEBUCK
DORMAN HIGH SCHOOL
Coffey, Philip M.
Inclan, Paul M.
Peacock, Gregory R.
Thomas, Matthew A.
SIMPSONVILLE
HILLCREST HIGH SCHOOL
Horgan, Colin P.
SPARTANBURG
SPARTANBURG HIGH SCHOOL
Chalmers, Benjamin A.
Chambers, Philip L.
Cope, Anna C.
Haselden, Laura E.
Shea, Sydney F.
Veytia, Peyton B.
SUMMERVILLE
SUMMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Hagins, Joshua D.
SUMTER
SUMTER HIGH SCHOOL
Smith, Hannah E.
WEST COLUMBIA
AIRPORT HIGH SCHOOL
Fleming, Weston T.