5 from region get National Merit Scholarships

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Five area high school students are among 2,800 students across the country awarded National Merit Scholarships by colleges and universities.

Each sponsoring college selected its scholarship winners from among the finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.

The awards range from $500 to $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

The local recipients and the schools offering them scholarships are:

- Aneesh Rai, Canfield High School: Texas A&M University, probable career field — entrepreneurship.

- Emily K. Seiders, Poland Seminary High School: Miami University, probable career field — international relations.

- Anthony L. Christensen, Rootstown High School: Case Western Reserve University, probable career field — software design.

- Michael D. Boker, Howland High School: Ohio State Univers-ity, probable career field — engineering.

- Alexandra M. Allegretto, Boardman High School: Case Western Reserve University, probable career field — mathematics.

A total of 201 institutions of higher learning are participating in this year’s program. The recipients are among the 8,200 top academic-achieving high school seniors who will receive $36 million in National Merit Scholarships this year.

More than 1.5 million high school juniors entered the 2009 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 200 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The number was narrowed to some 16,000 semifinalists who had the highest test scores in each state.

To advance to the finalist stage, students had to have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by a school official, have earned SAT scores that confirmed their qualifying test score and write an essay detailing their activities, interests and goals.