Twelve Science and Math Governor's School Students Named National Merit and Achievement Scholarship Finalists
April 18, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC – April 18, 2012 – All ten National Merit Scholarshipsemifinalists and both National Achievement Scholarship semifinalists atthe South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM)were recently announced as finalists.
The National Meritfinalists are now among 15,000 students from across the nation competingfor 8,300 scholarships worth more than $34 million. The NationalAchievement finalists are among 1,300 students from across the nationcompeting for 800 scholarships worth more than $2.4 million.
GSSM’sNational Merit Finalists include Amy Chang of Summerville, Jake Crouseof Cheraw, Max Franks of Greenville, Luke Havens of Florence, JohnIsenhower of Greenwood, Martin Seamus G. McLaughlin of Chester, KarlSchober of Greer, Virginia Tkacik of Fort Mill, Charles Wang of Florenceand Krista Wunsche of Ravenel.
GSSM’s National AchievementFinalists are Jalen C. Benjamin of Effingham and Maya Mason ofAiken.To be a finalist for one of the most prestigious scholarshipsin the nation is a great honor and speaks volumes about the commitmentand motivation of each of these students and the support of theirfamilies, said Dr. Murray Brockman, GSSM president. Ten seniors atGSSM are National Merit Finalists and two are National AchievementFinalists. We could not be prouder.
Approximately 1.5 millionjuniors representing more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2012National Merit Program and more than 160,000 juniors from across thenation requested consideration in the 2012 National AchievementScholarship Program. All students took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/NationalMerit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initialscreening.
To advance to the finalist stage, a semifinalist musthave an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsedand recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores thatconfirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
Adetailed scholarship application–including an essay and informationabout the student’s participation and leadership in school and communityactivities–is the final component of the application. Scholars willbe selected from the finalist pool on the basis of their skills,accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
NationalMerit Scholarship awards will be announced beginning this month andconcluding in July. National Achievement Scholarship awards will beannounced this month.
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, engineeringand math (STEM), with a unique emphasis on economics andentrepreneurship.GSSM can serve as many as 300 high school juniors andseniors annually from across the state. In addition, the school impactsmore than 24,000 teachers and students each year through its innovativeoutreach programs. Newsweek and The Washington Post consistently rankGSSM among the Top 20 public elite high schools in the nation.
In March 2011, GSSM launched the Wave Campaign to build awareness,energy and momentum around the study of STEM. GSSM is committed tohelping bridge the achievement gap for our low achievers, providinggame-changing opportunities to our high achievers and building astronger workforce, ultimately impacting economic development. GSSM isasking that all South Carolinians Do the Wave in support of STEMeducation. Support can be shown by flying the icon for the campaign, theflag, either at your home, business or on Facebook. Learn more andstart waving by visiting www.scgssm.org or www.dothewavesc.com.
