SEMIFINALISTS IN THE 2016NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

September 9, 2015 Announcement

Advance: For release on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Note to editors: Semifi nalists in your state are listed alphabetically by city and high school following this press release.This material is prepared solely for news media to announce the names of Semifi nalists; its use for any other purpose is prohibited.

Semifi nalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program

(Evanston, Illinois) Today offi cials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifi nalists in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifi nalists must fulfi ll several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the Semifi nalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

NMSC, a not-for-profi t organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifi cally to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 businessorganizations and higher education institutions that share NMSCs goals of honoring the nations scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

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Caution: Using numbers of Semifi nalists to compare high schools, educational systems, or states will result in erroneous conclusions. The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The program does not measure the quality or effectiveness of education within a school, system, or state. For more information about the competition, please visit NMSCs website at www.nationalmerit.org.

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP CORPORATION1560 Sherman Avenue, Suite 200, Evanston, Illinois 60201-4897 (847) 866-5100

Contact: Eileen Artemakis or Matthew Budreau Phone: (847) 866-5100 Public Information E-mail: mediainfo@nmerit.net Website: www.nationalmerit.org

Add oneSemifi nalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program

Steps in the 2016 Competition About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit

Scholarship Program by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifi nalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifi nalists in a state is proportional to the states percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a Finalist, the Semifi nalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifi nalists academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifi nalist must have an outstanding academic record through-out high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school offi cial, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confi rm the students earlier performance on the qualifying test.

From the approximately 16,000 Semifi nalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notifi ed of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

National Merit ScholarshipsThree types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2016.

Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 250 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specifi ed criteria, such as children of the grantors employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offi ces are located. In addition, about 190 colleges and universities are expected to fi nance some 3,900 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2016 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 315,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

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National Merit, Merit Scholarship, Merit Scholar, and the corporate Lamp of Learning logo are federally registered service marks of National Merit Scholarship Corporation. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the College Board.SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board.

Semifinalists: 2016 NationalMerit Scholarship Program

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OKLAHOMAADA

HOMESCHOOL600 Daniel, Andrew J.

ALTUSALTUS H. S.999 Mealer, Logan W.

BARTLESVILLEBARTLESVILLE H. S.628 Mason, Sean A.201 Zhou, Emily

BIXBYBIXBY H. S.451 Dewiel, Amanda K.

BLANCHARDBLANCHARD H. S.185 Thomason, Tara D.

BROKEN ARROWBROKEN ARROW H. S.628 Atherton, Rebecca J.999 Barker, Kyle W.450 Chadwick, Jacob W.250 Oven, Christopher C.628 Stabler, Michaela D.

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHRISTIAN630 Earl, Rachel M.

BROKEN BOWBROKEN BOW H. S.250 Holeman, Laura M.

CLAREMOREVERDIGRIS SCHOOL999 Black, Cody J.

COALGATECOALGATE H. S.628 Penney, Robert

DRUMMONDDRUMMOND H. S.999 Rehmel, Jessica

DUNCANDUNCAN H. S.450 Banks, Tate A.

DURANTDURANT H. S.162 Breon, Eli J.

EDMONDDEER CREEK H. S.162 Pan, Yiwei

EDMOND MEMORIAL H. S.999 Ashford, Kathryn D.450 Bowman, Joel D.201 Carreon, Alessia904 Coen, Noah M.628 Li, James D.999 Marks, Sullivan W.214 Pai, Raghavendra

EDMOND NORTH H. S.467 Ashmun, Jared K.185 Beaver, John P.204 Funderburk, Rachel W.999 Velasco, Lilian121 Zeng, Willie

EDMOND SANTA FE H. S.254 Morrison, Victoria A.906 Sattar, Zoya450 Vallejo, Michael A.HOMESCHOOL700 Brooks, Erin K.942 Dutcher, Mary Margaret

821 Jones, Noah E.302 Koiner, Jacob C.

ELGINELGIN H. S.606 Hampton, Haley J.

ENIDHOMESCHOOL451 Davis, Margaret E.

FORT GIBSONFORT GIBSON H. S.628 Wells, Becca L.

GLENPOOLGLENPOOL H. S.467 Maier, Nicholas J.

HARRAHHARRAH H. S.451 Eden, Erich M.

JENKSJENKS H. S.451 Bick, Riley Z.712 Bourke, Thomas C.209 Chonka, Thatcher B.455 Cleveland, Christopher740 Davies, Julia A.454 Famuliner, Cyle K.303 Harris, Andrew D.467 Howard, Jeffry C.451 Ledford, Hannah M.162 Monet, Heaven M.834 Moore, Robert W.843 Ragosta, Kaitlin R.253 Schupack, Dina J.450 Stephani, Megan472 Sullivent, Thomas J.204 Vincent, Allison T.250 Wilkinson, Natalie162 Wyant, Austin A.450 Zhang, Ye628 Zhu, Sylvia Y.

JONESHOMESCHOOL303 Alexander, Kermit L.999 Buster, Malcolm T.

LAWTONEISENHOWER H. S.450 Naberhaus, Grant V.

LAWTON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL836 Johnson, Jazz A.

MIDWEST CITYMIDWEST CITY H. S.450 Foreman, Aaron A.455 Luong, Erica A.

MOOREMOORE H. S.950 Blevens, Lucas R.185 McLaughlin, Christopher R.

MUSTANGMUSTANG H. S.970 Raghavan, Noby

NORMANNORMAN H. S.837 Albert, Brandon C.999 Bogan, Emily M.843 Konieczny, Alexander H.160 Poynter, Adrienne E.870 Rivas, Cristina E.160 Zhang, Alice Y.472 Zhong, Patrick710 Zhou, Xin Yue

NORMAN NORTH H. S.628 Balaguru, Logesvar790 Chan, Amber M.303 Felkner, Virginia K.459 Fung, Jen-On A.

500 Jiang, Kevin R.629 Long, Lynette F.185 Magsig, Audrey M.454 Muraleetharan, Veena454 Raman, Ashutosh P.741 Raman, Vinayak S.553 Robertson, Sawyer J.628 Rogers, Avery999 Sandhu, Zainab I.303 Summers, Randall J.200 Velaga, Rutvick461 Wirth, John M.

OKLAHOMA CITYCASADY SCHOOL946 Albert, Carl454 Raikar, Connor G.970 Rendon, Fiona G.

CLASSEN SCHOOL FORADVANCED STUDIES628 McKinnis, Evan H.

HARDING CHARTERPREPARATORY H. S.303 Dow, Tristan450 Kabrick, Isaac J.

HERITAGE HALL712 Heidari, Venus628 Miles, Paige E.

BISHOP MC GUINNESS H. S.450 Anderson, Maren A.450 Baker, Noah R.450 Duginski, Grace A.999 Figueroa, Sofia T.

MOUNT ST. MARY CATHOLIC H. S.949 Parizek, Rachel M.

OKLAHOMA SCHOOL OF SCIENCEAND MATHEMATICS303 Avery, Katherine E.999 Cai, Albert R.843 Cannon, Jack V.999 Chen, Allen W.470 Dial, Emily L.742 Hwang, Philip K.459 Khan, Faraz A.628 Lozano De Ao's, Pedro M.200 Luo, Rynel162 Nguyen, Gabrielle C.302 Springer, Farren J.600 Wu, Tiannan451 Zhang, Charles Y.

WESTMOORE H. S.300 Schmidt, Mason A.710 Truong, Khang D.

OOLOGAHOOLOGAH H. S.301 Ingram, Brandon M.

OWASSOHOMESCHOOL252 Haan, Emily D.

OWASSO H. S.999 Alvord, Abigail M.302 Peterson, Eric R.467 Woolery, Bradley

PIEDMONTPIEDMONT H. S.999 Stroh, Katherine M.

PONCA CITYHOMESCHOOL214 Smart, Benjamin J.000 Smart, Sean M.

POTEAUPOTEAU H. S.450 Hardaway, Kanaan C.

PRAGUEPRAGUE H. S.999 Bond, Montrey R.

SAND SPRINGSHOMESCHOOL742 Place, Caleb M.

SEILINGSEILING H. S.742 Sander, Darci L.

SKIATOOKSKIATOOK H. S.185 James, Kada R.

SPIROSPIRO H. S.920 Horton, Breckin N.

STILLWATERSTILLWATER H. S.450 Mathis, Samuel A.628 Pope, Audrey M.628 Wang, Kylin G.

TULSACASCIA HALL PREPARATORYSCHOOL170 Rule, Katherine G.628 Zanders, Jacqueline B.

THOMAS A. EDISON H. S.950 Laurencig, Benjamin J.HOLLAND HALL SCHOOL628 Kalapura, Cheryl R.000 Kelly, Peter185 Liu, Briana

HOMESCHOOL000 Garrison, Jeremy Trevor

BISHOP KELLEY H. S.628 Ames, Natalie E.999 Bernard, Nicholas M.450 Durland, Ross M.450 Hanisch, Read E.602 Keele, Sydney450 Mai, Tam N.475 McMahon, Griffon G.162 Sharp, Rachel R.628 Shelton, Hannah N.602 Widdows, Natalie C.

METRO CHRISTIAN ACADEMY450 Fossett, William E.

PEACE ACADEMY600 Akel, Mohamad B.162 Saleh, Ayah A.

REGENT PREPARATORY SCHOOL700 Perkins, Isabelle

RIVERFIELD COUNTRYDAY SCHOOL947 Brown, Riley

UNION H. S.218 Boyington, Austin R.450 Chang, Sae Yeun454 Gordon, Marie C.904 Haynes, Maureen E.162 Javed, Arkam M.457 Jones, Harold M.450 King, Miles000 Pangestu, Stephen472 Sarica, Erhan O.000 Shadley, Alexander T.200 Smith, Daniel R.

VICTORY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL467 Braun, Joshua R.678 Sohl, Morgan L.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON H. S.302 Aly, Mohamed K.904 Cash, Micah J.883 Levit, Nathan H.600 Li, Hsinhui250 Robson, Emma946 Sherman, Harriet V.628 Sous, Dana457 Taylor, Samuel M.

WAGONERWAGONER H. S.870 Drake, Brett M.

WOODWARDWOODWARD H. S.627 Wallace, Madison L.

Semifinalists: 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program

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Oklahoma (continued)

YUKONSOUTHWEST COVENANT SCHOOL450 Webb, John C.