2011 NATIONAL MERIT® SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM SELECTS SEMI-FINALISTS

Katherine Brown, Brian Harrison, Gabrielle Massone, and Alex Max Tapped

Durango High School Principal, Diane Lashinsky, has announced that four members of the class of 2011 have become Semifinalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program.From an initial pool of 1.5 million U.S. students, Katherine Brown, Brian Harrison, Gabrielle Massone, and Alex Max are amongst 16,000 students nationwide, and only 229 from Colorado, to become Semi-finalists by virtue of scoring incredibly well on the PSAT test administered in October 2009.

These seniors now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 million.  These scholarships are underwritten by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and by approximately 450 businesses and higher education institutions nationwide.

To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. The Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance to the Finalist level and it is from this group that all National Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.National Merit Scholarship winners of 2011 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.

If Brown, Harrison, Massone, and Max advance from the Finalist level, they will join more than 275,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title, including other notable finalists such as Bill Gates (Founder, Microsoft Corporation), John Roberts (Chief Justice, US Supreme Court), Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve Chairman) and Stephanie Meyer (Author of the Twilight series) among others.