5/23/2010

Country Day Senior Jessica Womack
is named National Achievement Scholarship Finalist

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has recognized Metairie Park Country Day School senior Jessica Womack as a Finalist. Jessica will attend Dartmouth College.

Jessica Womack has distinguished herself in a national competition of more than 160,000 high school juniors who requested consideration in the 2010 National Achievement Scholarship Program when they took the 2008 Preliminary sat/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (psat/nmsqt®). SemiFinalists were designated within geographic regions and are the highest-scoring program entrants in the states that make up each region. 1,600 Black American high school seniors were designated SemiFinalists in the 46th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program, conducted by NMSC, is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance. It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants. To date, over 29,500 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth $94 million.

To advance to the Finalist level in the competition, SemiFinalists must present a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, write an essay, and earn sat scores that confirm the psat/nmsqt performance. Also, the SemiFinalist and a high school official must complete a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the student’s participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and educational goals.