Five Duval County Public School Students Receive National Achievement Scholarships
Five Duval County public school students were among more than 800 National Achievement Scholarships announced today by the National Achievement Scholarship Program. These outstanding Black American high school students will receive scholarships totaling about $2.6 million. The awards, which may be used for undergraduate study at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university, are being underwritten by 40 corporate organizations and professional associations, and by National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
“These students have proven abilities, skills and accomplishments that confirm their desire for post-secondary education,” said Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, Ed Pratt-Dannals. “I am committed to the continued improvement of our students, and congratulate the hard work and dedication these students have shown.”
The National Achievement Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented Black American youth, and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition. The 2008 program marks 44 annual competitions in which more than 28,700 participants will have received scholarships worth approximately $91 million. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.
Achievement Scholar designees announced today include 700 winners of National Achievement® $2,500 Scholarships. All finalists in the 2008 competition were considered for these single-payment scholarships, which were awarded on a regional representation basis, in numbers proportional to the population of Black Americans in each geographic region.
About 100 scholars are recipients of corporate-sponsored Achievement Scholarship® awards. Winners were chosen from among finalists who meet the criteria of their grantor organizations. Most are residents of an area served by the sponsor, children of sponsor company employees, or finalists planning to pursue a college major or career the grantor wishes to encourage. Almost all corporate-sponsored scholarships are renewable and provide stipends that can vary from $500 to $10,000 per year, but a few provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
2008 National Achievement Scholarship Competition
More than 140,000 students entered the 2008 National Achievement Scholarship
Competition by requesting consideration when they took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) as high school juniors. In September 2007, approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis. To continue in the competition, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for finalist standing, which included having a record of consistently high academic performance; being endorsed and recommended by an official of their high school; earning SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance; and submitting an essay about personal interests, attainments, and goals.
Some 1,300 semifinalists advanced to the finalist level, and all National Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from this group of outstanding students. Achievement Scholar awardees are the finalist candidates judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.
Duval County Public Schools' winners
Lafayette M. Adams, First Coast High School
Stephen I. Iya, Paxon School for Advanced Studies
Miguel A. Lugo, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts
Paul A. Rutland, Stanton College Preparatory School
Rebecca D. Stevens, Stanton College Preparatory School
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