Lakeside, St. Pius Students Named National Achievement Scholars

Three students from schools in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area were named National Achievement Scholarship winners Wednesday.

One goes to and two go to . The awards, given by the Illinois-based National Achievement Scholarship Program, are given to 800 black, American high school seniors across the nation.

Locally, the winners are:

• Catherine E. Hollis (Lakeside) – $2,500 scholarship
  Probable career field: Fashion marketing
• Chukwuka Obiofuma (St. Pius) – $2,500 scholarship
  Probable career field: Medicine
• Katani A. Ostine-Franklin (St. Pius) – $2,500 scholarship
  Probable career field: Undecided

The program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition. By the end of the 2012 program, marking the 48th annual competition, about 31,800 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth more than $100 million. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corp., a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.