Hoggard High School student Sarah Spaulding was among this year’s National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s $2,500 scholarship winners.
Spaulding has chosen to attend Yale University with a probable career field of environmental engineering.
She was among 2,500 Merit Scholars chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program.
The $2,500 National Merit 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, according to a press release from the school district. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools.
This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2012, when approximately 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than 1 percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists on a state representational basis.
Only those 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition. From the semifinalist group, 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2014 program, about 8,000 finalists will have earned the Merit Scholar title and received a total of over $35 million in college scholarships.
Athletic pre-participation screening exams
Each year, all North Carolina students who plan to participate in athletics or cheerleading must undergo a state-mandated screening examination.
Physicians in the New Hanover-Pender County Medical Society, in collaboration with the New Hanover County Health Department and the school districts, will again offer free screenings. This year’s screenings are set for Thursday, May 22, for boys, and Thursday, June 5, for girls. Screenings are held at the New Hanover County Health Department, 2029 S. 17th St.
On their designated dates, boys and girls attending Ashley High, D.C. Virgo Middle, Hoggard High, Holly Shelter Middle, Laney High and Murray Middle should arrive at 6 p.m. Those who attend Myrtle Grove Middle, New Hanover High, Noble Middle, Roland-Grise Middle, Trask Middle, Williston Middle and private schools should arrive at 6:45.
Local schools recognized nationally for professional development
Four New Hanover County schools, along with UNC-Wilmington’s Watson College of Education, were recently selected to receive an award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement from the National Association for Professional Development Schools.
Blair, Castle Hayne, Ogden and Pine Valley elementary schools earned the honor.
According to the organization’s website, the award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement “recognizes Professional Development School relationships for their ongoing contributions to the mission and vision of the National Association for Professional Development Schools in creating and sustaining genuine collaborative partnerships between pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade and higher education that shapes educator leadership and practice.”
The award was officially presented at the NAPDS National conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, in March and the schools were also recognized at a ceremony held in the Watson College of Education on April 30.
Math contest winners announced
Middle and high school students from New Hanover County Schools recently participated in the Eastern Regional High School Math Contest held at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville.
Students from around the region competed in this written contest of 40 questions, testing their skills in one of two levels–Level 1: Math I concepts and Level 2: Math II and Math III concepts.
Several local students advanced from the regional level to the state level contest held in Fayetteville, where they also won awards.
Regional math contest results
Ashley High:
- Karima Raharjo–Fourth place (Level II)
- Omar Sharaf–Second place (Level II)
Hoggard High:
- First place team (Level II)–Kevin Hu, Eugene Kim, Claudia Opper, Edward Orde, Tara Poteat, Abby Scholer
Holly Shelter Middle:
- Ben Latter–Third place (Level I)
Murray Middle:
- Brianna Cunliffe–Ninth place (Level I)
Myrtle Grove Middle:
- Eddie Lee–Fifth place (Level I)
- Darren Janz–Eighth place (Level I)
- Joshua Webster–Fourth place (Level I)
Noble Middle:
- Melanie Su–First place (Level I)
- Jason Blaisdell–Second place (Level I)
Roland-Grise Middle:
- Julia Ross–Seventh place (Level I)
- Morgan Mase–Tenth place (Level II)
Trask Middle:
- Sterling Baron–Sixth place (Level I)
Williston Middle:
- Galen Wilcox–Tenth place (Level I)
State math contest results
Level I:
- Sterling Baron (Trask)–Sixth place
- Ben Latter (Holly Shelter)–Fifth place
- Melanie Su (Noble)–Third place
Level II:
- Omar Sharaf (Ashley) and Tara Poteat (Hoggard)–Tied for ninth and tenth place
- Kevin Hu (Hoggard)–Seventh place
