Hoover Residents Win 2nd Round Of National Merit Scholarships

HOOVER, AL — Alabama is home to 32 winners of the second round of the National Merit Scholarship, which awards $2,500 to recipients. Multiple Hoover residents are among the winners.

The first round of corporate-sponsored scholarships were announced April 21 and included 16 students from Alabama.

For each state, the number of winners is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors. The program says the winners are the finalists “judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the program says that around 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships in 2021 that total $30 million. Winners of the college-sponsored scholarship will be announced in June and July.

Here are the Alabama winners of the $2,500 scholarships:

• Gabriel Au; Auburn High School
• Jaeyoung Lee; Auburn High School
• Soojin Park; Auburn High School
• Hannah M. Ashraf; Altamont School (Birmingham)
• Roshni Datta; Oak Mountain High School
• Kruthika Dheeravath; Spain Park High School (Hoover)
• Zane A. Peacock; Spain Park High School (Hoover)
• Amy M. Yang' Spain Park High School (Hoover)
• Hooper R. Markert; Indian Springs School (Birmingham)
• Robert O. Merchant; Homewood High School
• Michael J. Moorman; Homewood High School
• Emily M. Rabbideau; Homeschool (Hoover)
• Srija Vem; Hoover High School
• Franscine K. Garcia; Grissom High School (Huntsville)
• Ruby M. Krasnow; New Century Technology High School (Huntsville)
• Avery N. Trice; Randolph School (Huntsville)
• Mason D. Mathias; Briarwood Chiristian (Birmingham)
• Joshua Hugh Lin; Bob Jones High School (Madison)
• Nikhita S. Mudium; James Clemens High School (Madison)
• Jenny Baek; Loveless Magnet School (Montgomery)
• Alexis J. Dryjanski; Loveless Magnet School (Montgomery)
• Theodore J. Feig; Mountain Brook High School
• Ellis G. Hamilton; Mountain Brook High School
• Clay W. Davis; Muscle Shoals High School
• Margaret Anne Gunter; Trinity Christian School (Opelika)
• Shaun Patrick O'Neil; Pelham High School
• Connor E. Holm; Satsuma High School
• Bennett B. Booth; Spanish Fort High School
• Gregory T. Li; Alabama School of Math and Science (Mobile)
• Cary Xiao; Alabama School of Math and Science (Mobile)
• Jason D. Han; Vestavia Hills High School
• Raleigh G. Robinson; Vestavia Hills High School
• Emma Seidel; Alabama School of Fine Arts (Birmingham)

A total of 16,000 students were selected as finalists for the scholarships and the final winners are candidates “judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”