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National Achievement Scholarship Winners Named

Three Lilburn students won this sought-after scholarship.

Today, National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 800 outstanding Black American high school seniors who have won Achievement Scholarship® awards through the National Achievement Scholarship Program. These awards, totaling over $2 million dollars, are being financed by grants from 29 corporate organizations and professional associations, and by National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The Lilburn winners are:

Caela A. Abrams, who attends Parkview High School and plans to pursue a degree in psychology.  

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Elim S. Almedom, who attends Shiloh High School and plans to pursue a degree in secondary education.

Jennifer A. Bunkley, who attends Parkview High School and plans to pursue a degree in Chemistry.

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The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented Black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition. By the conclusion of the 2012 program, marking the 48th annual competition, about 31,800 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth more than $100 million. The program is conducted by National Merit ScholarshipCorporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.

These winners were selected from Finalists who met the specific criteria of their grantor organizations. Most are residents of an area served by the sponsor, children of the organization’s employees, or Finalists planning to pursue a college major or career the sponsor wishes to encourage. Almost all corporate-sponsored scholarships are renewable and provide stipends that can vary from $500 to $10,000 per year, but a few provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

More than 160,000 students entered the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration in the competition when they took the 2010 Preliminary sat/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (psat/nmsqt®) as high school juniors. In September 2011, approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named Semifinalists on a regional representation basis. To continue in the competition, Semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for Finalist standing, which included having a record of consistently high academic performance; being endorsed and recommended by an official from their high school; earning sat scores that confirmed their psat/nmsqt performance; and writing an essay. 

From the Semifinalist pool, some 1,300 advanced to the Finalist level, and the 800National Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from this group of outstanding students. Achievement Scholar awardees are the Finalist candidates judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college. 

Congratulations to the recipients of the scholarships!

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