Four Putnam City students have been named National Merit Semifinalists by officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, an honor placing them among the nation’s top high school students. Recognized as National Merit Semifinalists are:

• Elizabeth Burgess, Putnam City North High School
• Gina Hancock, Putnam City North High School
• Brendan Hill, Putnam City North High School
• Jordan Jones, Putnam City West High School

More than 1.4 million juniors in nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2008 Merit Program by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Semifinalists are the highest scorers on the qualifying test in each of the 50 states and represent less than 1 percent of each state's high school seniors.

The four Putnam City students now have an opportunity to continue in competition for 8,200 Merit Scholarships worth $34 million to be given in the spring.

In order to be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must advance to the finalist level of the competition. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout the high school years, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier qualifying test performance. The semifinalist and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s self-descriptive essay and information about the semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.