MD Distinguished Scholars named

Blair had the most finalists and third most semifinalists in the county in the Maryland Distinguished Scholars program.

Blair had 25 finalists, which is nine less than last year, followed by Richard Montgomery with 20. Churchill has the most semifinalists this year with 25, followed by Richard Montgomery's 18 and Blair's 14.

All high schools in Montgomery County were represented in this year's competition. A total of 267 awards were given to seniors in Montgomery County Public Schools for their exceptional academic achievement or talent in the visual and performing arts. One hundred twenty one finalist awards (103 academic and 18 in the arts) and 146 semifinalist awards (133 academic and 13 in the arts) were presented to students from high schools all over the county.

Finalists will be offered a $3,000 renewable scholarship to any college or university in Maryland. Semifinalists will be offered scholarships not used by finalists. In addition, each student will be recognized by all Maryland institutions and will receive a certificate of achievement.

In order to qualify for academic awards, students must earn a 3.7 GPA or higher and score well on their SAT, PSAT, or ACT. Applicants talented in vocal and instrumental music, dance, drama and visual arts must audition before a panel of judges. Students accepted into the National Merit and National Achievement programs are automatically eligible for the scholarship.

This yearís finalists are Neil Agarwal, Easha Anand, Ning Bao, Ezra M. Berch, Todd C. Bryant, Michael S. Burnim, Michael C. Campbell, Michael Z. Chen, Lauren J. Cohen, Ivy Mar P. Flores, James J. Gao, Maxsim L. Gibiansky, Han Hu, Robert E. Hunter, David H. Kim, Jordan C. McCraw, John E. McManigle, Rebecca Z. Pass, Michael R. Price, Peter N. Russo, Jessica K. Shang, Valerie Y. Shen, Gordon L. Su, Emily Tsui, Xinlei S. Wang

For information on how other county schools performed, click here.

For a complete list of MCPS distinguished scholars, click here.