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February 18, 2009

Seniors become National Merit and National Achievement finalists

High test performance earns Blazers elite scholarships
Julia Wynn, Online Connections and Food Editor
Forty Blair students have been deemed National Merit Scholarship Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) after submitting an application and achieving a high score on the SAT. Three Blazers were awarded the National Achievement Scholarship, a similar award for black students. All 43 students received certificates from NMSC for their academic excellence.
Graphic by Xin Shan


Blair's National Merit finalists were chosen as semifinalists in September after scoring above a 220 selection index on the PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test), according to the National Merit Scholarship Program. Students advanced to finalist standing by meeting certain requirements ordained by NMSC, including a specific NMSC application and strong academic performance.

National Achievement finalists are eligible to receive a variety of NMSC merit scholarships worth up to $2,500 and corporate-sponsored scholarships; National Merit finalists qualify for college-sponsored scholarships in addition to the two other types. NMSC will notify students if they are chosen for these scholarships between March and mid-June. For more information about the scholarships finalists can receive, visit here.

The National Merit Scholarship Finalists from Montgomery Blair's class of 2009 are:
Boyang An
Mandeep Bedi
Christopher Bodine
Violet Cavicchi
Abigail Cember
Samir Chainani
Jessica Chen
Kerry Cheng
Elaine Chung
Ramita Dewan
David Edelstein
Jiali Fang
Edward Gan
Jonathan Gootenberg
William Hess
Akimitsu Hogge
Emily Hsiao
Sally Huang
Sneha Kannan
Charles Kong
Eric Kuang
Alisa Lu
Peter Myers
Kevin Rawlings
Stefanie Robey
Sahar Shahamatdar
Xin Shan
Stone Shen
Elizabeth So
Kevin Teng
Andrew Villadsen
Qiyu Wang
Yichen Wang
Monica Wei
Matthew Xu
Henry Zhang
Richard Zhao
Tai Zheng
Ya Zhou
Kiera Zitelman

The National Achievement Finalists from Montgomery Blair's class of 2009 are:
Lindsay Brewer
Jesse Gonzalez
David Harris
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Discuss this Article

  • Latinos on February 18, 2009 at 4:48 PM
    What about National Hispanic Recognition Finalists?

    this is another award of merit from the collegeboard...

    bit biased ya think?
    Reply
    • uhh.. on February 19, 2009 at 10:38 PM
      national achievement is for black students...
      Reply - Parent
      • Latinos on February 22, 2009 at 6:13 PM
        How is that relevant to my comment?

        National Achievement IS for black studnets

        just like

        National Hispanic Recognition is for Hispanic students

        The point is: Why didn't SCO include National Hispanic Recognition when they were compiling this list of CollegeBoard merit award winners.
        Reply - Parent
        • uhh.. on February 23, 2009 at 5:36 PM
          national merit and national achievement are nmsc sponsored, not collegeboard.

          the hispanic one just isn't as well publicized i guess
          Reply - Parent
          • Zeus on February 24, 2009 at 2:10 PM
            It may just be that there were no national hispanic recognition finalists at blair. I don't know for a fact that that's true, but that seems like a reasonable explanation.
            Reply - Parent
            • Well.... on February 25, 2009 at 7:25 PM
              There is at least one.
              Reply - Parent
              • ugh on February 25, 2009 at 10:43 PM
                okay, email editors.sco@gmail.com and pitch it as a news idea.
                Reply - Parent
  • la on February 18, 2009 at 7:44 PM
    way to go Kiera Zitelman! and Sally Huang! and Lindsay! and Jesse!
    Reply
  • asdf on February 18, 2009 at 10:43 PM
    all magnets
    Reply
    • GrossGeneralizationisGross on February 19, 2009 at 11:21 AM
      Kiera Zitelman, Lindsay Brewer, Stefanie Robey, Peter Myers, Violet Cavicchi, Jesse Gonzalez and Abigail Cember are not magnets.
      Reply - Parent
      • asdff on February 22, 2009 at 1:40 PM
        oops, he meant CAP and Magnet
        Reply - Parent
        • zeus on March 6, 2009 at 6:54 PM
          Abby is not in the magnet or CAP.
          Reply - Parent
    • C on February 20, 2009 at 2:37 PM
      Lol.
      Reply - Parent
    • Why does it matter? (View Email) on March 1, 2009 at 4:40 PM
      Why does it matter if the students were in Magnet or CAP or not? These students scored well on their SATs, well enough to be recognized by the nation. As a Blair alum, I am proud of them whether or not they were in a program or not.
      Reply - Parent
  • Phyllis Fleischaker on February 19, 2009 at 11:22 AM
    Congratulations to all of you! Well done.
    Reply
  • Zeus on February 19, 2009 at 9:05 PM
    Let us poor onto the curb a toast to those semifinalists who were lost on their voyage to the promised land of finality. Their names are written in the heavens.
    Reply
  • Pokemon on February 20, 2009 at 10:30 AM
    GOHEAD THAT QIYU
    Reply
  • My question on March 7, 2009 at 3:16 PM
    Why are students of different races held to different standards? Apparently National Achievement is held in the same regard as National Merit, although being a National Achievement student does not translate to the same performances as those who are National Merit finalists. Seems like another bogus attempt to help fuel affirmative action.
    Reply
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