Countywide : Students Win National Merit Scholarships

Twenty-five Orange County students are among the winners of this year’s National Merit Scholarships, the nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced this week.

Of the 14,000 students who reached the final phase of the annual competition, 1,000 were chosen by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors to receive the $2,000 scholarships.

The awards are based on students’ academic records, standardized test scores and contributions to school and community.

Orange County winners in the second of three rounds of awards this year are:

Gene Hong, Anaheim, Canyon High School; Peter Manasantivongs, Cypress, Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos; David Yang, Cypress, Cypress High School; Elaine Lu, Fountain Valley, Fountain Valley High School; Heidi Altman, Fullerton, Sunny Hills High School; Kensaku Kawamoto, Fullerton, Sunny Hills High School; and Carol Kong, Fullerton, Sunny Hills High School.

Others are Phillip Sung, Fullerton, Sunny Hills High School; Eric Yang, Hacienda Heights, Sunny Hills High School; Bryan Huang, Huntington Beach, Marina High School; Jennifer Chien, Irvine, University High School; Christina Inloes, Irvine, University High School; Brittney Jensen, Irvine, Woodbridge High School; Raja Kapadia, Irvine, University High School; and Chen-Ting Ma, Irvine, Woodbridge High School.

Also included are Jeffrey Ross, Irvine, University High School; Margaret Taub, Irvine, University High School; Meghan Rollins, La Habra, La Habra High School; John Keith, Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach High School; Jason Sholl, Laguna Hills, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School; Angela Kim, Orange, Villa Park High School; John Chodera, Westminster, Westminster High School; Dae Kim, Westminster, La Quinta High School; Hung Nguyen, Westminster, La Quinta High School; and Masoumeh Tadjedin, Yorba Linda, Sunny Hills High School.