The scholarships are privately financed by corporate organizations, professional associations, and by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).
This year’s 20 GCPS seniors join more than 800 outstanding Black American high school students from across the nation who will receive scholarships totaling more than $2 million as part of the annual National Achievement Scholarship competition, conducted by the NMSC. The group represents 12 of the district’s traditional high schools and a charter school—Archer High School; Brookwood High School; Central Gwinnett High School; Collins Hill High School; Grayson High School; Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology; Mill Creek High School; Mountain View High School; North Gwinnett High School; Parkview High School; Peachtree Ridge High School; and Shiloh High School. The 2015 student winners from Gwinnett are:
Archer High School:
Kynnedi J. Fye
Probable career field: Law
Brookwood High School:
Vanessa H. Boyle
Probable career field: Undecided
Tiffany Jonai Fomby
Probable career field: Law
Kwadwo Korang Obeng-Marnu
Probable career field: Physics
Central Gwinnett High School:
Rhodalene C. Benjamin-Addy
Probable career field: Chemical Engineering
Collins Hill High School:
Amethyst R. King
Probable career field: Neuroscience
Grayson High School:
Taylor Alexandria Pope
Probable career field: Activism
Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology:
Samuel Zinga
Probable career field: Medicine
Mill Creek High School:
Ashley Ann Barnes
Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering
Norris L. Davis III
Probable career field: Law
Mountain View High School:
Hayat H. Ramzi
Probable career field: Biology
North Gwinnett High School:
Carmen E. Toomer
Probable career field: Surgical Medicine
Cory A. Brooks
Probable career field: Computer Science
Parkview High School:
Elshaddai Girma
Probable career field: Psychology
Amanda Nicole Mitchell
Probable career field: Surgical Medicine
Nia M. Mitchell
Probable career field: Pediatrics
Peachtree Ridge High School:
Rudy R. Crosby
Probable career field: Chemical Engineering
Alexis L. McKenzie
Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
Shiloh High School:
Micaiah L. Palmer
Probable career field: Neurosurgery
Jasmine A. Wilson
Probable career field: Medicine
Some of the scholarships, one-time awards of $2,500, are funded by NMSC. Others, funded by corporations, are renewable with annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year or a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
The competition first began with results of the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT.) In September 2014, approximately 1,600 semifinalists were designated within geographic regions based on the highest scores in the states that make up each region. About 1,300 contestants advanced to the finalist level in the competition by filling out a detailed application, presenting a record of high academic performance throughout high school, being endorsed and recommended by the school principal, writing an essay, and earning SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance. A total of 800 Achievement Scholar honorees were selected from the finalists.
For more information about the National Achievement Scholarship Program, contact (847) 866-5100 or visit www.nationalmerit.org
