Eleven Blazers win National Merit Scholarships

Eleven Blazers won National Merit Scholarships. Four won corporate scholarships while the remaining seven seniors were rewarded money directly from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Seniors Tencia Lee, Randy Li, Robert Vlacich and Kristina Yang each won corporate scholarships, which are National Merit Scholarships sponsored by various corporations. Scholarships range from $500 to $10,000 annually. Lee won money from SAIC, Li by Watson Wyatt & Co., Vlacich from Omron and Yang from Computer Sciences Corp.

In addition to corporate scholarships, the National Merit Scholarship competition awards 2,500 National Merit Finalists with a $2,500 scholarship. Seniors Abigail Fraeman, Sherri Geng, Kendra Leigh, Renee Park, Joanna Skeath, Jacqueline Villadsen and Min Wu each received scholarships.

In order to receive scholarship money, students must perform well on the NMSQT/PSAT, which is given in the fall of their junior year. In the fall of senior year, 16,000 students nationwide are selected to be National Merit Semifinalists, and then finalists are chosen based on their consistent, high academic performance, good SAT scores, a written teacher recommendation and an essay that describes the student's goals, interests and activities.

Montgomery County had a total of 25 scholarship winners. Additional scholarships sponsored by colleges and universities will be announced on May 25 and June 11.