Gwinnett Daily Post

Nine Gwinnett County Public Schools students qualify for national scholarships worth about $2.6 million.

The high school seniors were named semifinalists for the National Achievement Scholarship Program, founded to honor and provide scholarships to academically promising black students.

The students qualified for the program because of their high achievement on the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as juniors. Out of the 150,000 test-takers who asked to be considered, 1,600 were designated as semifinalists.

This year's semifinalists are:

Cameron T. Askew of Brookwood High

Briana D. Campbell of Dacula High

Ariel R. Ford of Peachtree Ridge High

Steven Lewis of Collins Hill High

Cassandra A. Maafoh of Brookwood High

Nathan Yohannes of Central Gwinnett High

Ariel A. Young of Dacula High

Leah L. White of North Gwinnett High

Amaris N. Williams of Shiloh High

These students now have the opportunity to advance to the finalist level of the competition. All Achievement Scholarship winners are selected from that finalist group on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments, and potential for success in college. To be considered for finalist status, they must fill out a detailed application, present a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance.

The information collected about each finalist will be used in the selection of about 800 Achievement Scholarship award recipients. Winners will be announced in the spring.

Georgia Farm Bureau to award scholarships

The Georgia Farm Bureau will award a total of $14,250 in scholarships to 10 high school seniors who plan to pursue a college degree in agriculture or family and consumer sciences, said Cecil Gober, Gwinnett County Farm Bureau president.

The top three students will each receive a scholarship of $3,000, while the remaining seven students will each receive an award of $750. Students are eligible to submit an application if they or their parents or legal guardians were a member of Georgia Farm Bureau as of Sept. 1. The scholarships are sponsored by the Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. in cooperation with the Georgia Farm Bureau Women's Committee.

Applicants must plan to enter a unit of the University System of Georgia or Berry College during the 2009-10 academic year to pursue an undergraduate degree in agricultural and environmental sciences, family and consumer sciences or a related agricultural field. All scholarship applications must be approved and signed by the Farm Bureau president of the county where membership is held before being submitted to the Georgia Farm Bureau home office.

Applications must be submitted by Dec. 19. Scholarship recipients will be announced in March.

For more information or to obtain an application, call the Gwinnett County Farm Bureau office at 770-963-6209 or visit www.gfb.org. On the Web site, select GFB Programs, then Youth Education and then GFB Scholarships.

Heather Darenberg writes about education. Good News From Schools appears in the Sunday edition of the Gwinnett Daily Post. For more good news, visit www.gwinnettdailypost.com Monday.