Peninsula High Student Named Scholarship Semifinalist

A student is one of less than 2,000 semifinalists in a scholarship program that recognizes academically promising black students throughout the nation.

Chukwudera Ikeme today was named a semifinalist in the 48th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program. The program was started in 1964 to recognize promising black students nationwide and to provide scholarships to participants.

About 1,600 semifinalists will compete for 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $2.4 million to be offered next spring. Every finalist will compete for one of the 700 one-time National Achievement $2,500 Scholarships. Corporate and business sponsors will underwrite about 100 Achievement Scholarship awards for finalists who meet criteria set by the grantor.

About 80 percent of semifinalists are expected to become finalists, and more than half of the finalists will win an Achievement Scholarship award, according to a program press release. The program is conducted by the .

More than 160,000 high school juniors from across the U.S. requested consideration in the 2012 National Achievement Scholarship Program when they took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

To advance to the finalist level in the competition, semifinalists must present a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, write an essay, and earn strong SAT scores. They must also complete a scholarship application.

In January, semifinalists will learn whether they advanced to the finalist level.