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National Merit Semifinalists , Commended named for Class of 2017
Fourteen Denton ISD students have been chosen out of 1.6 million total entrants to be semi-finalists or commended scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program for this year ’ s graduating class .
The College Board named Jordan Goldstein , Ansh Pujara and Abhiskek Shah of Guyer High to the distinguished list of National Merit Semi-Finalists .
The three join a pool of just 7,600 National Merit Semifinalists in the entire country . High school students are selected into the program based on their top scores on the 2015 Preliminary SAT / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test ( PSAT / NMSQT ).
The Class of 2017 commended scholars include Hallie R . Evans and Erin P . Moore of Denton High ; Ashley Emory , Jefferson Knight , Alexander Koh , Gracon Mangnall and Thomas Nunez of Guyer High ; Aaron Bates , Barry Lau , Matthew Merchant and Rachel Warfield of Ryan High schools .
More than 34,000 students throughout the nation are recognized for their exceptional academic promise and deemed commended scholars . Although they will not continue in the competition for further National Merit awards , they place among the top five percent of the students who entered the competition by taking the exam .
The district also had three students who received recognition as National Hispanic Scholars or National Achievement Scholars . They include Theoren Moore , Thomas Nunez and Bianca Ramirez from Guyer High .
The National Merit program recognizes students that are at-least one-quarter Hispanic or Latino and are among the top 5,000 high scoring individuals on the PSAT / NMSQT exam . The National Achievement Scholarship program recognizes scholars that annually score in the top three percent of more than 16,000 Black Americans who request consideration in the National Achievement program .
Merit scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills , accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college students , without regard to gender , race , ethnic origin or religious preference .
The National Merit Scholarship program was founded in 1955 to identify and honor scholastically talented American youth and to encourage them to develop their abilities to the fullest .
College Board recognizes 66 students as AP Scholars
The College Board honored 66 Denton ISD high school students with distinctions for 2016 , according to their annual list of recipients who are named Advanced Placement Scholars .
The national program recognizes individuals who have demonstrated college-level achievement though exceptional scores in AP courses and on AP exams . Students are awarded based on four levels including : AP Scholar , AP Scholar with Honor , AP Scholar with Distinction and National AP Scholar .
Students receive an award certificate from The College Board and although there is no monetary award , this achievement is acknowledged on any score report that is sent to colleges .
AP Scholars
Students who received scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams :
Denton High : Braden Arnold , Natalie Bennett , Chloe Conley , Hallie Evans , Rachel French , Emily Goff , Melissa Havens , Hendrik Henderson , Jason Justiz , Juan Lara Mejia , Douglas Newcomer , Joseph Scalf
Guyer High : Nathan Gates , Anna Laura Harmjanz , Andrew Winn , Pierce Brodersen , Ashley Emory , Kimberly Flack , Benjamin Gillick , Kurt Gscheidle , Ethan Hedges , Rebecca Hernandez , Mariana Lopez Cervantes , Mason Mazurek , Theoren Moore , Danielle Quintanilla , Erick Quintanilla , Bianca Ramirez , Nabeera Rao , Riley Roder , Nolan Vaughan , Garion Washam , Amy Whang , Launa Wilson , Zachery Wright , Ryan Yeatts .
Ryan High : Chase Clary , Jacob Dellinger , Jarod Haskin , Aaron Jackson , Amanda Kerr , Noah Lindley , Matthew Merchant , Ethan Neumann ,
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