Local seniors named Merit Scholars

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation last week announced the names of approximately 800 outstanding Black American high school seniors who have won Achievement Scholarship® awards through the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

These awards, totaling over $2 million, are financed by grants from 30 corporate organizations and professional associations, and by National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The National Ach­ievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented Black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition. By the conclusion of the 2015 program, which marks the 51st annual competition, more than 34,200 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth about $108 million. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.

The Achievement Scholar designees announced last week include 700 recipients of National Achievement® $2,500 Scholarships, 800 national qualifiers, including 18 from Louisiana.

The New Orleans seniors are listed below:

• Ahli I. Chatters, Ben Franklin H.S. Probable career field: Neonatology

• Aaron M. Detiege, Brother Martin H.S. Probable career field: Psychology

• Jamie A. Hawkins Isidore Newman H.S. Probable career field: Undecided

• Donald C. Lamotte, Lusher Charter School. Probable career field: Neurosurgery.

• Megan A. Preston, Katharine /Drexel Preparatory School. Probable career field: Mathematics.
• Alyn Elizabeth Wallace, Ben Franklin H.S. Probable career field: Undecided.

This article originally published in the April 13, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.