AREA NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP CORP. SEMIFINALISTSAPISONHomeschool: Noeliz VegaCHATTANOOGABaylor School: Sean ZhangBoyd-Buchanan School: Kale LangleyGirls Preparatory School: Anjali Chandra, Hannah Geerlings, Rachel Hudson, Kelli Marcum, Hannah ThelMcCallie School: David Bowman, Wesley Brown, William Hopping, Christopher Kositzke, Weimer Macuri-Espinoza, Grant McArtor, Drew Shikoh, Philip Stephenson, Michael TrobichSignal Mountain Middle-High: Benjamin Gruber, Samuel ThomasDUNLAPSequatchie County: Brent HurstMCMINNVILLEHomeschool: Anna WhittemoreWarren County High: Maya DenningGEORGIADade County High: Zane HendersonSource: National Merit Scholarship ProgramBY THE NUMBERSNumber of National Merit Scholarship Corp. semifinalists from the tri-state region over five years:2010: 312011: 362012: 452013: 402014: 23Source: Times Free Press archives
Brent Hurst made school history in Dunlap, Tenn., on Wednesday.
Hurst, 17, is the first student to be named a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist at Sequatchie County High School. He is one of 23 area students who achieved the national academic honor, which qualifies them to compete for finalist status and $33 million in National Merit college scholarships.
The Sequatchie County senior, son of Gary and Lana Hurst, said "I've been studying math and languages all my life trying to gain more knowledge so I would understand them before they were taught."
Saying he plans a career in engineering, he added, "If I can speak multiple languages, it will help me get a job almost anywhere."
Sequatchie County High Principal Tommy Layne said this is not Hurst's first academic achievement. The senior aced his ACT test, scoring a perfect 36, and scored 2280 out of 2400 on the SAT. He is also on track to become class valedictorian.
The process of becoming a semifinalist begins during the junior year of high school when students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Those named semifinalists are the highest-scoring entrants in each state, less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which sponsors the program. This year, 16,000 seniors in the country qualified.
McCallie School led this area with nine semifinalists, which McCallie School headmaster Lee Burns attributes to the school's culture.
"The McCallie culture is one of intellectual curiosity, academic excellence and rigor. We focus on processes: challenging our students to do little things right each day in a commitment to continual improvement. By focusing on process and then encouraging them to persevere amid the challenges and rigor of our high standards, the outcomes -- like nine National Merit semifinalists -- take care of themselves," Burns explained.
There were no semifinalists this year in Northeast Alabama. Zane Henderson of Dade County High School was the only semifinalist in Northwest Georgia.
Hamilton County public schools produced two semifinalists, Benjamin Gruber and Samuel Thomas, both students at Signal Mountain Middle-High School. That number marked a significant drop from 10 public school students honored last fall and 26 in 2012. However, it is comparable to three Hamilton County Schools' semifinalists in 2010.
Robin Copp, principal at Signal Mountain Middle-High, attributed this fluctuation to the "cut score," which the National Merit Scholarship Corp. uses to determine the cut-off point to qualify as a semifinalist among all students taking the test.
"The cut score changes every year," she explained. "So it would be very difficult to give a reason for a decline from one year to another."
Copp said semifinalists Benjamin Gruber and Samuel Thomas were surprised last week with a small gathering of their parents and teachers influential through their middle and high school courses.
"We called them in the conference room and had chocolate cake. They are both extremely active in our school and in leadership positions. They are very deserving young men," Copp said.
Susan McCarter, director of college guidance at Girls Preparatory School, said she doesn't believe there is a specific reason for the drop from 40 area semifinalists last year to 23 this year. GPS claimed five semifinalists this year, second to McCallie in qualifying numbers for the area, but there have been years when the private school had one student qualify.
"Having been in education for over 30 years, I know that some years are just like that. Many times I've heard teachers from different schools make the same comment, 'Was there something in the water that year?' Next year could tell an entirely different story," said McCarter.
That is when the new PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is launched simultaneously with the redesigned SAT college entrance exam. According to The College Board, the redesigned SAT will focus more on things shown by current research to matter most in college and career. Students will find questions asking them to support their answers with evidence, vocabulary they'll use long after they've taken the exam, an essay and multistep problems that apply math in real-world contexts.
"I have no idea what (those) numbers will look like, but I can't wait to see," said McCarter.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.