News Release, Calvert County Public Schools
Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) proudly announces that Huntingtown High senior Tamea Cobb has been named a Semifinalist in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship program. In addition, six CCPS seniors have been named Commended Students.
They are: Noah Breske and Stephen Zack of Calvert High; Lucas Frankle, Shannon Ganley, and Gabriel Matthews of Huntingtown High; and David Bollinger of Patuxent High.
Dr. Daniel D. Curry, Superintendent, said, “This academic accomplishment is extraordinary. These students have scored among the highest in the nation, and we wish them all the best in the future.”
Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National MeritScholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.
Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scores of those taking the PSAT/NMSQT®.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2020 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.