Ten seniors at Watchung Hills Regional High School named 2009 National Merit finalists

COURTESY ELEANOR MATHEWS

Ten students at Watchung Hills Regional High School have been named finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship program. Seated are (left to right) recipients Christine Liaw, Luqi (Rachel) Chen, Karen Tsung, Rebecca Hobble and Lucy Li. Standing are Principal Thomas DiGanci; recipients Timothy Barnum, Graham Block, Eric Liu and Noah Greenbaum; and Guidance Director Catherine Angelastro.

They are Timothy Barnum, Luqi (Rachel) Chen, Rebecca Hobble, Christine Liaw, Eric Liu and Karen Tsung, all of Warren; Noah Greenbaum, Lucy Li and Alexander Risman, all of Watchung; and Graham Block of Millington. Their scores on the PSAT were high enough to earn them semifinalist standing last fall.

Of the estimated 1.3 million college-bound students who took the preliminary examination, only 16,00 attained semifinalist standing. These students are in the top half of the top 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide. Now as finalists they are being considered for some 8,200 merit scholarships offered by colleges, foundations, corporations and the not-for-profit National Merit Scholarship Corp. itself.

The final selection process is now underway and notification about scholarship offers will begin in March, at which time many of the finalists will already have learned where they will attend college.
Each of the finalists has received a National Merit Scholarship certificate. Principal Thomas DiGanci expressed the community's congratulations and pride in the finalists' achievement.