Two Potomac-area high school students were selected as 2012 National Achievement Scholarship winners by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Christine Hildreth and Maliza Namude received the highly selective prize that honors the academic achievements of African American students around the country.
“I am thrilled that two of our Churchill students…have been recognized as National Achievement Scholars,” said Dr. Joan Benz, Churchill High School principal. “Their academic standings within the MCPS community and within the nation are exemplary and a tribute to their hard work and the support they have received from their families, teachers and counselors. I am proud of their latest accomplishments and, along with staff members at the school, will follow their progress as they move on to undergraduate studies next year.”
Hildreth and Namude, who received $2,500 scholarships, were among 13 winners selected from Montgomery County and 800 nationwide. Winners were chosen from a pool of more than 160,000 applicants. The families of Hildreth and Namude did not respond to requests for comment.
“Maliza is an amazingly talented young woman with broad-based abilities,” said Robin Moore, a counselor at Churchill. “The thing that I like best about her is that she is excited about everything she learns.”
The scholarship program was established in 1964 to honor scholastically talented African American students. “When a student who may have otherwise been overlooked is identified through one of our programs and given the recognition that he deserves, we fully realize the impact of the work that we are honored to do,” writes Timothy E. McGuire, president National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
More information about the National Achievement Scholarship Program is available at www.nationalmerit.org.
<1b>—Marilyn Campbell