National Merit, Achievement recognizing 3 area students

4/27/2011

Three local high school seniors who say they want to be doctors have won top national awards.

A Lenawee Christian School student is one of about 1,000 National Merit Scholarship winners, and two students at private high schools in Toledo are among the 800 black U.S. high school students recognized by the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

Karl B. Schuyler, who attends the Adrian school, won the National Merit Eaton Scholarship for children of employees of Eaton Corp., an automotive parts supplier.

Winners of such National Merit Scholarships were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level and met criteria of scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for children of employees, residents of communities their companies serve, or students who plan to pursue careers the company encourages.

Most National Merit Scholarships range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment of $2,500 to $5,000.

The Toledo seniors recognized by the National Achievement Scholarship Program are Caleb K.S. Edwards of St. John's Jesuit High School and Keon K. Pearson of St. Francis de Sales High School.

Mr. Edwards won a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

Mr. Pearson's scholarship is honorary only, because his plans or other awards preclude receipt of a monetary scholarship.

The initial screening for National Merit and National Achievement awards is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test given to about 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools.

Of those students, more than 160,000 are black, which qualifies them to compete for the National Achievement awards.