EVANSTON, Ill. - Two high school students from Gainesville are among thousands from across the country named semi-finalists for a college scholarship.<br />
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David Lawson of Chestatee High School is among 16,000 semi-finialists in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. He and the others remain in the running for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring. <br />
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About 90 percent of them are expected to attain "finalist" standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.<br />
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This program was established in 1955 with a goal of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.<br />
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In addition to Lawson, there are other students from northeast Georgia who have been named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. (They are listed at the end of this story.)<br />
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Meanwhile, Jakim T. Johnson of Gainesville High School is one of more than 1,600 black high school students named semi-finalists in the 51st annual National Achievement Scholarship Program. <br />
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Johnson and the others remain in competition for about 800 scholarships worth about $2.5 million that also will be offered next spring. About 80 percent of them are expected to become finalists and more than half of the finalists will win a scholarship.<br />
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This program began in 1964 to recognize and reward academically promising black students. It, like the other one, operates without government assistance. <br />
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Additional students from northeast Georgia who have been named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program: <br />
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<b>BUFORD</b><br />
HOMESCHOOL<br />
Spivey, Stephen C.<br />
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<b>CUMMING</b><br />
FORSYTH CENTRAL H. S.<br />
Rawlings, John M.<br />
Zhai, Amy J.<br />
NORTH FORSYTH H. S.<br />
Browning, Emma M.<br />
Grasso, Brian M.<br />
SOUTH FORSYTH H. S.<br />
Konda, Rohi T.<br />
Kota, Akhil<br />
Lewis, Averi G.<br />
Newsome, Abigail L.<br />
WEST FORSYTH H. S.<br />
Gerhard, Shannon A.<br />
Mewes, Shannon E.<br />
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<b>DAHLONEGA</b><br />
LUMPKIN COUNTY H. S.<br />
Landrum, Donald E.<br />
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<b>HOSCHTON</b><br />
MILL CREEK H. S.<br />
Braun, Christian A.<br />
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<b>JEFFERSON</b><br />
JEFFERSON H. S.<br />
Jarrett, Harold R.<br />
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<b>SUGAR HILL</b><br />
LANIER H. S.<br />
Song, Dain<br />
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<b>SUWANEE</b><br />
COLLINS HILL H. S.<br />
Moraes, Katherine E.<br />
LAMBERT H. S.<br />
Clark, Joseph T.<br />
Feinstein, Mahala C.<br />
Neff, Philip R.<br />
Panda, Sambit<br />
Yan, Rebecca X.<br />
NORTH GWINNETT H. S.<br />
Kim, Hyung S.<br />
Lossner, Elton G.<br />
Manoharan, Yeshwant<br />
Muhammad, Hasib<br />
Paik, Megan J.<br />
PEACHTREE RIDGE H. S.<br />
Best, Blake T.<br />
Collins, Michael G.<br />
Li, Jenny<br />
Shah, Simi N.
