May 8—Four high school students from the Monongalia and Preston school districts are now in elite company.
They were named National Merit Scholars, the Illinois-based scholarship company announced Wednesday.
Nationally, more than 15,000 seniors from across the United States were recognized as semifinalists earlier this year.
Morgantown High named two national scholars: Pratham Bhanushali, who will likely pursue a degree in neurology; and Grace Yan, whose career plans are currently undecided.
University student Andrew Kisner is considering a career in mathematics.
Margot Cerbone, of Preston High School, will likely study law.
Eleven scholars in total were named from West Virginia, also representing Charleston Catholic High School, Wheeling Park High School, Clay County High School, Cabell-Midland High School and Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley.
Semifinalists and scholarship winners represent less than 1 percent of the nation’s 12th-grade population, National Merit said.
Scholars are nominated based on their grades and community service outside the four walls of the classroom.
The National Merit Scholarship Program was born out of his times.
It was created during the Cold War in 1955, following concerns that the United States was lagging behind intellectually in the world.
The main objective of the organization then was to encourage young students, through committed teachers and unique course offerings, to develop their full academic and professional potential in a global dynamic forever changed by the Second War. worldwide.
After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the program expanded with its National Scholarship Program for high-achieving black students in the classroom.
The nonprofit National Merit organization’s scholarships are funded by its own funds and the support of 400 companies nationwide.
In the meantime, more than 350,000 people have earned the designation of Merit Scholar in the nearly 70 years that the scholarship has been in existence.
National Merit Scholarship finalists over the years include software innovator and social activist Bill Gates, blues guitarist Elvin Bishop and filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.
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