This year, 183 Austin ISD seniors earned recognition for outstanding academic performance from the U.S. Presidential Scholars, National Merit Finalists, National Merit Semifinalists, National Merit Commended scholars and College Board National Hispanic Scholars programs.
Fourteen students received 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 the state's education commissioner. Students selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars receive an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a 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 grantors and institutions of higher education.
The recognized seniors include: seven Presidential Scholar Candidates, 42 National Merit Finalists, three National Merit Semifinalists, 38 Scholars for the National Hispanic Recognition Program and 107 National Merit Commended students.
Akins High School, Principal Brandi Hosack
National Merit Commended - Dylan Gentry
Anderson High School, Principal Donna Houser
National Merit Finalists - William Bamberg, Clio Harralson, Evan Kim, William Lemens, Hannah Phillips, Vincent Searcy
National Merit Semifinalist - Benjamin Reichert
National Hispanic Recognition - Olivia Crank, Benjamin Garcia, Georgina Garza, Emma Kehne, Teresa Lillis, Gabrielle Montemayor, Margot Rae, Marina Weikel
National Merit Commended - Matthew Armour, Samuel Bradbury, Adam Brutocao, Olivia Crank, Nicole Currens, Sarah Hollis, Dae Gun Jung, Olivia Land, Caleb Lang, Rachel Shapiro, Mary Teeler, Alyssa Trimble, Marina Weikel
Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Principal Jeanne Goka
National Merit Finalist - Emma Foster
National Hispanic Recognition - Kyleigh Lindholm, Alexis Segura, Julie Tapia, Cristina Trevino
National Merit Commended - Maya Messinger
Austin High School, Principal Amy Taylor
National Merit Commended - Aidan S. Alexander-Walker, Dylan M. Bradford, Joseph N. Estrada, Gabriel L. Hackworth, Khunal Parkash
Bowie High School, Principal Stephen Kane
Presidential Scholar Candidate - Cameron Clark
National Merit Finalists - Angela H. Kang, Bach T. Tran
National Hispanic Recognition - Liliana Benitez, Eric Ingersoll, Alicia Morales, Riana Moreno, Raven Nelson, Angel Reyes
National Merit Commended - Douglas Archibald, Eugene Choi, Cameron Clark, Kaylen Combs, Calvin Dao, Robert Hicks, Dain Kasprak, Annalie Krone, Nicole M. Moore, Trevor Oldham, Adam Roggenbauer, Courtney Simonetti, Kylie Dugan
Crockett High School, Interim Principal Sissy Camacho
National Merit Commended - Keishaun Holt
Garza Independence High School, Principal Linda Webb
National Merit Commended - Isaiah Silaski
Graduation Prep Academy at Lanier, Principal Ryan Hopkins
National Merit Commended - Avy Hutchins
Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Principal Stacia Crescenzi
Presidential Scholar Candidates - Rita Kalar, Brandon Lee, Ethan Russo, Jonathan Sadun, Jasmine Stone, Corin Wagen
National Merit Finalists - Trevor Binford, Eliza Cain, Claire Cannatti, Mason Clark, Thomas Crain, Isaac Cui, Pia Deshpande, Cara Dewitt, Tam Do, Chloe Edminston, Samuel Gunn, Blake Hance, Ashley Hannah, Emily Heubaum, Bryson Hill, Katherine Jones, Alice Kemp, Brandon Lee, Mingyo Lee, Klaus-Ernst Linden Manzke, Lynnsey Martin, Isaac Metcalf, Wilson Nguyen, Neil Patil, Isaree Pitaktong, Teo Rogers, Ethan Russo, Travis Shivers, Jasmine Stone, Corin Wagen, Zennie Wey
National Merit Semifinalists - Hank Comer, Jonathan Sadun
National Hispanic Recognition - Odalis Cartagena, Isabela Contreras, Thomas Crain, Rachael Ellisor, Elizah Flores, Efrain Garduno, Luis Lopez, Santiago Lopez, Lesley Martinez, Michael E. Martinez, Michael N. Martinez, Victoria Mycue, Robert Pantalion, Milan Rivas, Gabriel Salgado, Arturo Torres Skillicorn
National Merit Commended - Emma Rose Ackerman, Rebekah Albach, Meagen Allgood, Sophia Amstutz, Ehsan Asdar, Krista Bangs, Michael Barre, Samuel Beckett, Robin Behrends, Ali Bergeron, Emma Blaw, Bridget Carolan, Jeong Choi, Ana Katherine Cooper, John Dicarlo, James Dubose, Caleb Ellington, Ifeoma Ezekoye, Clara Fancher, Elizah Flores, Elizabeth Frey, Derian Golden, William Goodwin, Fiona Graham, Ashwin Gupta, Gabriel Hart, Joshua Jesudass, Rita Kalar, Miles Kersten, Jonathan (Connor) Kordes, Niels Kornerup, Logan Kramer, Dylan Kreth, Elizabeth Lim, Jack Liu, Samuel Lynaugh, Allyson Martin, Michael E. Martinez, Sesha McMinn, Claire Morrison, Carter Pace, Emily Pencis, Ella Pettichord, Fox Pfund Pulliam, Martin Primanis-Erickson, Raina Rahman, Milan Rivas, Maisie Sajbel, Gabriel Salgado, Sabina Savelyeva, Kyra Segraves, Ishan Shah, Harper Shapiro, Jonah Shaukat, August Stromberger, Sebastian Tanaka, Geoffrey Tian, Arianna Tolany, Gabriel Trevino, Ruther Craig Tumolac, Daniel Vega, Addison Walker, Ethan Williams, Phillip Woolley, Samantha Zern, Sihua Zhao
McCallum High School, Principal Michael Garrison
National Merit Finalists - Haley M. Hegefeld, Marisol J. Sobek
National Hispanic Recognition - Marisol J. Sobek, Sofia Currie, Alexandra Donovan
National Merit Commended - June H. Bendich, Clara E. Bishop, Elisabetta L. Diorio, Elizabeth J. Fierro, Ian A. Files
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the nation's most distinguished high school seniors. Each year, up to 141 students are named 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 a total of more than $1.5 billion.
Scholarship winners will be announced through July 18.
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stin ISD is the largest school district in Central Texas, serving more than 83,000 students at 130 schools. Follow AISD on Twitter at @AustinISD or on Facebook at facebook.com/austinisd.