6 National Merit Winners Announced

Six Ventura County students won National Merit scholarships this week, based on their academic skills and extracurricular accomplishments.

Each student will receive a financial scholarship, donated by businesses such as Amgen. and Boeing. Winners may use their awards at any accredited college or university.

The first-round local winners include: David Guo and Nickolas Rodriguez from Oak Park High School, Michelle Brooks from Thousand Oaks High, Jennifer Lin from Westlake High, Naomi Cordell from St. Bonaventure High in Ventura, and Ailene Sankur from Ventura High. More student winners will be announced later this year.

These students are usually valedictorians and members of sports teams, bands, debate clubs or honors societies. They often hold student government positions, work after-school jobs and volunteer during their free time.

They were chosen from among 15,000 finalists. Each finalist had to be recommended by his or her school principal and had to provide a transcript of grades and write an essay describing individual activities, interests and goals.

The National Merit Program was established in 1955 to award academic excellence. This year, about 7,900 students will receive corporate-sponsored scholarships worth $31 million. There are two types of scholarships: one-time awards that range from $2,000 to $5,000, and renewable awards that range from $500 to $10,000 per year.