MEDIA RELEASE

Glendale Unified School District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Distribution Date: September 13, 2019 

Nine Glendale Unified Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

GLENDALE, CA – Nine Glendale Unified seniors have been selected as semifinalists for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship. These outstanding students are among the 16,000 semifinalists selected from a pool of over 1.5 million students in about 21,000 high schools nationwide.

Cole Barrios, Clark Magnet High School

Naomi Beach, Clark Magnet High School

Jackson Bullard, Crescenta Valley High School

Justin Chong, Hoover High School

Justin S. Kim, Crescenta Valley High School

Abel Lai, Crescenta Valley High School

Mary Minasyan, Hoover High School

Sarah Paik, Crescenta Valley High School

Shyla Summers, Crescenta Valley High School

National Merit semifinalists are selected based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, are named semifinalists and invited to continue in the competition for approximately 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.  According to the not-for-profit National Merit Scholarship Corporation, over 90 percent of the semifinalists attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship. Winners of the National Merit Scholarship will be announced later this spring.

For further information, please email Kristine Nam or call the Public Information Office at (818) 241-3111 x1218.

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