PRESS RELEASE: MVLA SEMIFINALISTS NAMED IN THE 2013 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The National Merit Scholarship Program announced that 34 members of
Mountain View Los Altos High School District’s senior class have qualified as Semifinalists. Only the top one percent of applicants in the nation receives National Merit finalist recognition. Each year, approximately 1.5 million entrants participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program, by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in a program co-sponsored by the College Board. The standardized test measures critical reading, math problem-solving and writing skills. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $48 million that will be offered next spring.

The Semifinalists from Los Altos High School (LAHS) are: Elizabeth A. Bishop, Nicholas E. Bousse, Faith A. Chan, Alina Chen, Madeleine R. Colbert, Salim Damerdji, Julia M. Goupil, Natalie Hollenbaugh, Sarah M. Jacobs, Owen M. Jow, Katherine Liu, William Z. Liu, Derrick Lu, Veronica Mark, James H. Merrill, Anica S. Nangia, Matthew T. Ruehle, Laura Shea, Angelica M. Wilson, Arissa Wongpanich, Wendy Y. Wu, Elaine Zhao, Lillia N. Zhou and Michael D. Zhu.

The Semifinalists from Mountain View High School (MVHS) are: Sophia A. Campione, Matthew J. Chang, Seraphine Goh, Ryan H. McLaughlin, Louis N. Rosen, Negin Shahiar, Ankit Sharma, Brian J. Silverman, Aditya Tammana and Grace S. Tsang.

Mike Mathiesen, MVHS Assistant Principal stated, “MVHS is proud of these students for being selected as National Merit Semifinalists. This is a distinguished honor, reflective of their high academic success thus far in high school. We are excited to support them in the next stages of the process and look forward to celebrating their successes along with our other graduating seniors in the spring.”