Two Local High School Students are Announced as $2,500 National Merit Scholarship winners

Two local students are among 55 Massachusetts high schoolers and more students throughout the nation who have been selected from 15,000 finalists to win the $2,500 National Merit scholarship, said the National Merit Scholarship Corporation in a Wednesday, May 7th announcement, in which NMSC named a second round of award winners.

Grace Barnett of Westwood who attends Westwood High School and Benjamin Fogler of Needham who attends Needham High School are National Merit Scholarship winners. Barnett's probable career field is politics, while Fogler has indicated a pursuit of journalism. Both of their scholarships are being funded by NMSC itself.

In April, about 830 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named in a first round of awards. No local students were named as scholarship winners in that first round.

In June and July, a third and fourth round of awards will be announced, for college-sponsored scholarships. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, more than 6,930 academic champions from around the nation will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.

National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

Barnett and Fogler, along with the other winners, were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who reviewed each finalist’s academic records, difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned, scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay written by each Finalist, and a recommendation written by a high school official.

Along with Barnett and Fogler, other students from the area who have been named in this round of National Merit Scholars are:

• Grace Barnett of Westwood (Westwood High School)
• Benjamin Fogler of Needham (Needham High School)
• Charlotte Y. Choi of Sharon (Sharon High School)
• Brendon J. Wen of Sharon (Sharon High School)
• Chloe E. Zabounidis of Sharon (Sharon High School)
• Lucas Westphal of Brookline (Milton Academy)
• Anson Holtz Richman of Wellesley (Wellesley High School)
• Joss H. Richman of Wellesley (Wellesley High School)
• Alexis C. Lee of Wellesley (Wellesley High School)
• Raj Saha of Wellesley Hills (Roxbury Latin School)
• Michelle Wang of Wellesley Hills (Wellesley High School)

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 280 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and encouraging academic excellence at all levels of education.

Thanks to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.

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