Nationally, more than 1,600 African-American high school seniors have been named semifinalists for scholarships in the 46th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program.  Of those, eight students were from East Baton Rouge Parish School System – the most of any school system in the state.

The honored students, seven from Baton Rouge Magnet High School and one from McKinley High School, include:

BATON ROUGE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL
Kiera Andrews
Malia Dartez
Zakyia Goins-McCants
Ivan Lafayette
Laura Livingston
Alaina Plant
Andrew Udofa

McKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL
Bethany Robinson

Students now vie for about 800 Achievement Scholarships worth more than $2.6 million to be awarded in the spring of 2010.  About 1,300 semifinalists nationally are expected to fulfill additional requirements and advance to the finalist level in the 2010 program.   All Achievement Scholar awardees will be selected from the finalist group on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

The National Achievement Program, conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance.  It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants.

More than 160,000 high school juniors from all parts of the United States requested consideration in the 2010 National Achievement Program when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).  Semifinalists were designated within geographic areas and are the highest-scoring entrants in the states that make up each region.