Five Garland High School seniors have joined an elite group of students from across the country. Alayna Brooks, Anna Williamson, Meghan Shanks, Sidrah Shah, and Tamara Winter were named Semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit and National Achievement Scholarship Programs in September.
Three of only 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists, Shah, Shanks and Williamson represent less than one percent of all U.S. students who entered the competition. In 2011, approximately 1.5 million juniors took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. High scores earned Shah, Shanks and Williamson the opportunity to continue on for a chance to win one of 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million.
“If I had to point to one thing that makes me stand out from other high schoolers—especially when it comes to college—this title would be high on the list,” said Williamson. “I practiced and prepared for the PSAT a lot,” added Shah. “It’s nice to see a reward for my hard work.”
Brooks and Winter also earned their National Achievement distinction through high scores on the PSAT/NMSQT. The National Achievement Scholarship Program recognizes academically promising black students, and Brooks and Winters are two of only 1,600 Semifinalists this year. They now have the opportunity to compete for one of 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $2.5 million.
“I’m really excited about this honor,” commented Brooks. “My sister also attended GHS and was named an Achievement Semifinalist. It makes me really proud to live up to her reputation.”
