Parkland's National Merit Scholarship Students Honored

Eleven Parkland High School students were selected as semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. They were recognized by the Parkland School Board on Tuesday.

According to a press release from the school district, these scholastically talented seniors will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, worth $36 million, offered next spring.

The semifinalists are: Tyler Duff, Ajay Gandhi, Roshan Joshi, Aditya Misra, John Pellosie, Mohammad Saeed, Donovan Snyder, Marcus Spiegel, Kaleb Tseo, Ana Veskovic and Joy Wang.

Also, 17 Parkland High School students were named Commended Students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. They demonstrated outstanding performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test. They also were recognized by the school board.

The Commended Students are: Nida Bajwa, Danielle Berman, Dustin Brinker, Brian Dinkelacker, Sayem Imam, James Ko, Erin Korp, Jeffrey Kurtz, Eric Mikitka, Fahim Mobin, Alisha Rege, Camille Roberts, Amanda Schleicher, Harsimran Thind, Adrian Tsou, Jack Walton and Jonatan Yucra.

The National Merit Scholarship program is an academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships. The privately financed National Merit Scholarship competition is open to all U.S. high school students who meet program participation requirements. Winners of scholarships are chosen on the basis of their abilities, skills and accomplishments.