Thirteen African-American seniors from four HISD high schools are among the semifinalists for the National Achievement Scholarships.  These students will have the opportunity to compete for 800 scholarships worth more than $2.5 million that will be offered next spring.

The National Achievement Scholarship program is a privately financed academic competition that was started in 1964 to recognize and offer scholarships to academically promising African-American students throughout the nation.

To be considered for this scholarship, more than 160,000 high school juniors took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test.  The nationwide pool of semifinalists, about 1,600 students, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

To become a finalist, semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

“We are very proud of these students and their academic achievements,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier.  “To be recognized among the nation’s best students by the National Achievement Scholarship program is truly an honor and a testament to their hard work.” 

The selected semifinalist students are from the following HISD schools: Bellaire High School, DeBakey High School for Health Professions, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Westside High School.  The 2013 National Achievement Winners will be announced starting in April 2013. 

National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalists

 Bellaire High School                                

Alexander Franshaw                                                              Evan S. McClain
Alayah M. Frazier                                                                    Lonnie A. Smith
Salem B. Hadgu

DeBakey High School for Health Professions

Rachel A. Adenekan                                                                   Nathalie C. Meremikwu
Anusha A. DeSilva Bradley                                                      Acara E. Turner                      
Malcolm C. Lizzappi                             

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Ellisa M. Bray                                                                             Jyron Walls

 Westside High School

 Bianca R. Draud