National Merit Scholars from AOC.

Forty students in the Hart School District have received academic commendations in the National Merit Scholarship Program, including three semifinalists.

The National Merit Scholarship Program was established in 1955 as a competition amongst students for academic recognition and scholarships.

Qualifying students must score among the top 50,000 of 1.5 million students nationwide on the Preliminary SAT which tests students’ critical reading, mathematics and writing skills. From these students, 34,000 receive letters of commendation in recognition for their outstanding academic promise.

The Hart District students receiving commendation letters were from six of the district’s high schools this year.

The following students are to be congratulated for their excellent performance:

Valencia High School: Kristen Chua, Shannon Flores, Mustafa Gobulukoglu, Sjel Holter, Nathan Jung, Eugene Kim, Chelsea Ko, Jessica Kwon, Christopher Lee, Sharon Lee, Sabrin Sidhu, Calvin Tsai and Hahwon Yoo.

West Ranch High School: Ori Brian, Diane Cho, Nicholas Garcia, Paige Jacobsen, Alice Kim, Harmonie Lee, Andria So, Celine Vartany and Rhys Wheatley.

Academy of the Canyons: Ashwin Trisal, Spencer Honadel, Evan Holguin, Michael Levin, Jessica Horning, Courteney Shipley and Colleen Lee.

Canyon High School: Andrew Jacobsen, Sarah Masson and Yee-Ann Wong.

Golden Valley High School: Gerardo Aguilar, Sam S. Jeon, William Oh and Yash J Shah.

Hart High School: Ajay Balarm, Alexis Block, Justin Park, Steven Shatkin.

Although commended students are not eligible for the designated National Merit scholarships, some of these students will be eligible for special scholarships sponsored by businesses and corporations.

Additionally, special recognition goes to West Ranch High School’s two National Merit Scholar semifinalists, Lawrence Chen and Kevin Lin, as well as semifinalist Ravi Jayanthi from Valencia High School. Chen, Lin and Jayanthi are part of the elite group of 16,000 students nationwide who obtained the highest scores on their PSATs.

Semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program are eligible for consideration to win a National Merit Scholarship and can apply for the award through materials provided to their high schools. The finalists for the scholarships are notified by mail in February.

Winners are selected based on their abilities, skills, accomplishments, test scores, written recommendations, student activities and an essay written by the student.