3 Awarded $2,000 Merit Scholarships

Three Oxnard Union High School District students have won $2,000 National Merit scholarships, officials from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced Tuesday.

Sarah Fessenden and Deborah Noonan of Adolpho Camarillo High School and Jane Kim of Rio Mesa High School were the county recipients among the 2,000 award winners selected from 14,000 seniors nationwide. Those 14,000 finalists were winnowed from the 1.1 million students across the country who took the 1995 PSAT/NMSQT.

Judging criteria included students’ academic records, test scores, leadership skills, contributions to school and community, recommendations of their principal and written essays.

The scholarship winners were chosen by high school counselors and college admissions officers. On April 16, winners of the corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships were released. A third set of college- and university-sponsored winners will be announced in July.