NEWS RELEASE: ?Eight New Mexico seniors receive corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship
For Immediate Release
Contact: Janelle Taylor Garcia, Ph.D.
505-709-5543
janelle.garcia@ped.nm.gov
April 24, 2024
Eight New Mexico seniors receive corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship
SANTA FE, N.M. – The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced today that eight New Mexico seniors have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards. They are among approximately 770 distinguished high school seniors to receive the honor.
“I applaud both Batelle and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their celebration of academic excellence,” said Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero . “Their commitment to nurturing talent and fostering student success exemplifies the essence of corporate responsibility.”
Selected as winners of the National Merit Battelle Scholarship are:
Karen W. Zhang
Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque
Probable career field: Electrical Engineering
John Francesco Cawkwell
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Astrophysics
Finley Inglis
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Music
Lucy Caroline Kelley
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Environmental Science
Rebecca M. Li
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Psychiatry
Rosario E. Dodd
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Environmental Science
Minhtet Paing Htoon
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Engineering
Daniel S. Kim
Los Alamos H. S., Los Alamos
Probable career field: Electrical Engineering
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
High school juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2023, more than 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to finalist standing. Each semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 met finalist requirements.
By the conclusion of the 2024 competition, more than 6,870 finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $26 million.
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The New Mexico Public Education Department partners with educators, communities and families to ensure that all students are healthy, secure in their identity and holistically prepared for college, career and life. Currently, NMPED serves about 320,000 students in 189 districts and charter schools. Find an abundance of resources for administrators, educators, families and students at New Mexico Public Education Department (state.nm.us) or follow the NMPED on Facebook and Instagram .
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