Eight Cherokee County School District high school seniors have been named 2013 National Merit Semi-Finalists. 

The designation is based on outstanding performance on the 2011 PSAT and qualified these students to compete for 8,300 scholarships worth more than $32 million.  Of the 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools who took the 2011 PSAT, approximately 16,000 were named National Merit Semi-Finalists. 

To be named Finalists, students must have a superior academic record, a recommendation from their Principal and an SAT score that's equivalent to or higher than their PSAT score, and they must submit an application and essay.  Scholarships winners will be named in the spring.

The Semi-Finalists are: of Creekview HS, Victoria L. Cochran; Etowah HS, Alyssa K. Baker, Ahila Manivannan and Duncan M. Morgan; River Ridge HS, Ian A. Donn and Connor X. Wilkinson; and Woodstock HS, Sara E. Graf and Elena E. Ruiz.  They will be recognized during the Cherokee County School Board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.

Eighteen students from CCSD have been awarded National Merit Letters of Commendation, which recognize students who earn a PSAT score in the top 50,000 of the more than 1.5 million students who take the test.

The recipients are: of Cherokee HS, Jebb Ricketts; of Creekview HS, Adam Geller, Tracy Hall and Madeline R. Ryan; of Etowah HS, Brandon Brooks, Christopher Carpentier, Braden Gathercole, Hunter Hayes, Jamie Rule and Anna Claire Smith; of River Ridge HS, Kaitlyn Herman and Emma O’Bryant; of Sequoyah HS, Savannah Chappelear, Margaret “Maggie” Hartman and Julia Nailor; and of Woodstock HS, Angela L. Banks, Joshua Z. Chang and William Pippin.