This year, 84 students earned recognition for outstanding academic performance from the Presidential Scholars Program, the National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Hispanic Recognition Program, and the National Achievement Scholarship Program. Thirteen students earned recognition in more than one program.
Students selected as candidates for the Presidential Scholars Program have scored exceptionally well on either the SAT or the ACT, or have been nominated by their Chief State School Officer. Students selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars receive an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion.
Students are selected for the National Merit Scholarship Program based on their scores on the preliminary SAT exam, which they take as juniors. Because of their high scores on this assessment, the students are eligible for scholarship awards from institutions of higher education and grantors.
The 84 recognized students include: 15 Presidential Scholar Candidates, 50 National Merit Scholarship finalists, three National Merit semifinalists, 27 National Hispanic Scholars and two National Achievement Scholarship Finalists.
Presidential Scholars and National Merit Program winners
Anderson High School
Presidential Scholar Candidates—Lauren Humphrey, Abigail Sledge, Elizabeth Stratton, Delaney Raper, Jennifer Zvonek
National Merit Finalists—Madeleine (Claire) Bruster, Marissa Heffler, Lauren Humphrey, Marya Poterek, Abigail Sledge, Elizabeth Stratton
National Merit Semifinalist—William Ladyman
National Hispanic Recognition Program—Marie Barjau, Mara Minford
National Achievement Scholarship Finalist—Alexis Bruner
Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders
National Merit Finalist—Annalise Irby
National Hispanic Recognition Program—Chloe Coronado Winn, Eliza Martin
Austin High School
National Merit Finalists—Andrew Bell, Austin Coffey, Jacob Hartzer
National Hispanic Recognition Program—Alma Flores-Perez, Morgan O’Hanlon, Mariano Stephens, Anamaria Szachacz, Armando Ruiz
Bowie High School
Presidential Scholar Candidates—Alexander Emory Gorden
National Merit Finalists—Nathan Maxwell Alvarez Olson, Madelyn Grace Cain, Alexander Emory Gorden, Jack Andrew Guy, Sydney Grace Hutton, Sarah Elizabeth Jansen, Katherine Lee McClellan
National Hispanic Recognition Program—Nathan Maxwell Alvarez Olson, Juliana Ison, Karla Castro, Mario Rivera
National Achievement Scholarship Finalist—Madysen Johnson
Liberal Arts and Science Academy
Presidential Scholars Candidates—Dylan Danzeiser, Benjamin Girardeau, Abigail Kappelman, Sofia Kennedy, Daniel Teal, Vignesh Vasu, Daniel Weinberg, Weston Hill
National Merit Finalists—Megha Arora, John Chan, Dylan Danzeiser, Alexander Denko, Travis Duck, Lina Fisher, Alex Friedman, Benjamin Girardeau, Audrey Halbrook, Forrest Hammel, Cecilia Handy, Lana Hanlon, Michael Jiang, Jeong-Soo Kang, Abigail Kappelman, Audrey Lewis, Monica Li, Lucy Liu, Michelle Marchan, Evan Myers, Grayson Norris, Brooks Perkins-Jechow, Caroline Shi, Barbara Soques, Sophia Taylor-Burton, Daniel Teal, Evan Tey, Vignesh Vasu, Daniel Weinberg, Lily Xu, Justin Zhang
National Merit Semi-Finalists—Sofia Kennedy, Inga Wei
National Hispanic Recognition Program—Michelle Marchan, Gabriella Acosta Lane, David De La Garza, Weston Hill, Vicente Kaufhold, John Reyes, Ana Lopez, Armando Rodriguez, Graciela Trimble-Quiz, Henry Legate, Ismael Flores, Myka Rodriguez, Samuel Grayson, Sofia Valdivieso-Siny, William Cooper
McCallum High School
Presidential Scholar Candidates—Emma Boardman-Larson
National Merit Finalists—Ben Dickerson, Jacob Roberts-Miller
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduation high school seniors. Each year, up to 141 students are named as Presidential Scholars.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, nonprofit organization. Since 1955, the NMSC has recognized 3 million students and provided approximately 387,000 scholarships worth more than $1.5 billion.