Science & Mathematics Governor’s School Celebrates 20 National Merit Finalists
February 12, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics (GSSM) is excited to announce that 20 members of the class of 2015 were recently named National Merit Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). These academically motivated students are now eligible for continued competition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Not only is this the highest number of National Merit Finalists in any South Carolina high school, it is also the most finalists in GSSM’s 27-year history.
GSSM’s National Merit Finalists include:
Chanon Amphan, son of Chon Amphan & Dee Tan of Florence
Anya Bali, daughter of Drs. A.J. & S.C. Bali of Hartsville
Tyler Brown, son of Peter N. Brown and Kathryn Brown Holt of Greenville
Wil Carpenter, son of Eric & Reneé Carpenter of Lake Wylie
Sean Conway, son of Neal M. & Eileen K. Conway of Greenville
Katie Duchinski, daughter of Janice Duchinski and the late Gerald F. Duchinski, Jr of Mauldin
Aspen Golden, daughter of Jay & Faith Golden of Clover
Madison Maddox, daughter of Ron & Greta Maddox of St. Helena
Cameron Maes, son of Patrick & Melanie Maes of Summerville
John Mathai, son of Rob & Renee Mathai of Beaufort
Alex Mau, son of Fredric & Sandy Mau of Columbia
Patrick McKenzie, son of David & Caroline McKenzie of Lexington
Hansen Mou, son of Yanghu Mou & Haiping Huang of Greer
Josh Pope, son of Mike & Sarah Pope of Florence
Sayaka Reed, daughter of Eric & Yayoi Reed of Spartanburg
Gavin Roser, son of Vince & JoAnn Roser of Landrum
Jack Runge, son of Charles & Luanne Runge of Greenville
Sara Watson, daughter of Sam & Becky Watson of Simpsonville
Zach Wyman, son of David Wyman & Elaine Worzala of Clemson
Gordon Zhang, son of Dr. Guigen Zhang & Sucheng Xie of Central
“We congratulate our National Merit Finalists and their families and wish them success throughout the scholarship competition,” said Dr. Murray Brockman, GSSM president.
NMSC chose approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program from across the nation, including 205 in South Carolina.
In late January 2015, approximately 1,300 of the 16,000 Semifinalists were notified that they now qualify as Finalists in the 2015 program. They will compete for the 7,600 scholarships worth more than $33 million that will be offered this spring.
The program begins with students taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). Semifinalists across the nation are then named based on the highest-scoring entrants in each state. A student becomes a finalist based on academic record, high school principal endorsement and an SAT score confirming their qualifying test score.
Approximately 90 percent of semifinalists are predicted to become finalists and over half of the finalists will be awarded a scholarship. Scholarship awards will be announced beginning in March 2015 and concluding in June. For more information, visit http://www.nationalmerit.org/.
About GSSM
The South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) is a two-year, public, residential high school in Hartsville, SC, specializing in the advanced study of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), with a unique emphasis on economics and entrepreneurship.
GSSM can serve nearly 300 high school juniors and seniors annually from across the state. In addition, the school impacts more than 10,000 teachers and students each year through its innovative outreach programs. Learn more by visiting www.scgssm.org.
