The National Achievement® Scholarship Program has announced that Andeneshea Kemp of Putnam City North High School and Erica Slates of Putnam City High School are two of more than 800 high school seniors nationwide who have won 2006 Achievement Scholarship awards. The students will each receive a $2,500 scholarship that may be used for undergraduate study at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

The National Achievement Program, a privately financed, academic competition, was 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. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.

More than 130,000 students entered the 2006 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration when they took the 2004 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) as high school juniors.

In September 2005 approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis. To compete for Achievement Scholarship awards, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for finalist standing which included having a record of high academic performance, being endorsed and recommended by their high school principals, earning SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance, and submitting an essay about personal interests, attainments, and goals.

Some 1,300 semifinalists advanced to the finalist level, and all 800 Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from the group of finalists. Achievement Scholar awardees are the finalist candidates judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.