Wheeling Park and John Marshall High School Students Win Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship
Trending
EVANSTON, Ill. -- John Marshall High School senior Austin Williams and Wheeling Park High School senior Ashley Linder are among seven West Virginia students named today as corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners.
Across the nation, more than 1,000 high school seniors were named corporate-sponsored scholarship winners. The awards are financed by about 160 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors.
Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
The winners are:
∫ Williams, who plans to study civil engineering in college, won the TTEC Scholarship. He is the son of Ed and Rebecca Williams of Moundsville and plans to attend West Virginia University.
∫ Linder, who plans to study biomedical engineering in college, won the Westlake Chemical Corp. Scholarship. She is the daughter of Paul and Jennifer Linder of Wheeling and also plans to attend West Virginia University.
∫ Laiken E. Griffith, Woodrow Wilson High School, National Merit PPG Foundation Scholarship.
∫ Tanner J. Durst, Point Pleasant High School, National Merit American Electric Power Scholarship.
∫ Zoe S. Litten, Keyser High School, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship.
∫ Leah M. Haines, Morgantown High School, National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship.
∫ Aaron M. Withrow, Winfield High School, National Merit Abbvie Inc. Scholarship.
Today's announcement of National Merit Scholars is the first of several. The National Merit Scholarship Corp. on May 8 will announce its $2,500 scholarship winners, and in June and July, college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be named.
By the conclusion of this year's competition, about 7,600 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.