Newton South student is semifinalist for Merit scholarship

By Matt Rocheleau, Globe Correspondent

A Newton South High student was one of about 25 seniors from Massachusetts high schools who advanced to the semifinals of a national scholarship program recognizing Black Americans for earning some of the top scores in the state on the 2008 Preliminary SAT (PSAT), officials announced.

Newton South’s Rebecca H. Robinson was among the 1,600 Black American high school seniors nationwide who moved on to the semifinals from a group of around 160,000 student’s that entered the 46th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program by taking last year’s PSATs. (A statewide list of semifinalists’ names and schools is below.)

The semifinalists will now compete to become finalists for one of around 800 available scholarships, worth around $2.6 million combined, that will be offered next spring. This year’s scholarship winners will be announced in early April.

Around 1,300 semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, said a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a non-profit established in 1955 which initiated the scholarship program in 1964, “to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants.”

“To advance to the finalist level in the competition, semifinalists must present a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance,” said the release from the National Merit Scholarship program.

Also, the semifinalist and a high school official must complete a detailed scholarship application providing information about the student’s participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and educational goal

For more information about the competition, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

Massachusetts Semifinalists: 2010 National Achievement Scholarship Program

AMHERST

AMHERST REGIONAL H. S.
Gillette, Cory A.

ANDOVER

PHILLIPS ACADEMY
Adu-Appiah, Audrey L.
Blake, Jessica
Brisco, Amanda C.

ARLINGTON

ARLINGTON H. S.
Ahmed, Sara

ASHLAND

ASHLAND H. S.
Maswoswe, Tamara K.

BELMONT

WALDORF H. S.
OF MASSACHUSETTS
McDonald, Michael C.

BOLTON

NASHOBA REGIONAL H. S.
Haid, Christopher M.

BOSTON

BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL
Girma, Ezana
Haines, Noel G.

WINSOR SCHOOL
Thompson, Morgan N.

CHESTNUT HILL

BEAVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
Spears, Diallo I.

EAST LONGMEADOW

EAST LONGMEADOW H. S.
Anoje, Theresa I.
Wiggins, Anthony J.

GROTON

GROTON SCHOOL
Fequiere, Dominique
Okorafor, Ikechukwu C.

MALDEN

MALDEN CATHOLIC H. S.
Solomon, Daniel

MYSTIC VALLEY REGIONAL UPPER
CHARTER SCHOOL

Erickson, Maija S.

MILTON

MILTON ACADEMY
Oladipo, Olaitan A.

MOUNT HERMON

NORTHFIELD MOUNT
HERMON SCHOOL

Lawrence, Amanda L.

NEWTON CENTER

NEWTON SOUTH H. S.
Robinson, Rebecca H.

NORTH EASTON

OLIVER AMES H. S.
DaCosta, Gabrielle J.

SHARON

SHARON H. S.
Steward, Alysse T.

WEST ROXBURY

ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL
Henderson, Raimon V.

WOBURN
WOBURN MEMORIAL H. S.
Vormawor, Adenugbe A.