Centreville, Westfield Students Named Semifinalists for National Merit Scholarships

Nine local students recently earned recognition as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. 

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation each year recognizes students from around the country for their high achievement on a standardized test, the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). 

This year, about 16,000 students out of the 1.5 million who took the test in 2010 were named semifinalists. They include the following students from local high schools:

: Keegan Collins, Alaina Forte, Maria Lee and Chantelle Tait.

: Rebecca Holley, Harlan Manteacrlli, Steven Qu, Wesley Tarro and Ian Van Pelt.

The students joined a record number of Fairfax County Public Schools students who earned recognition as semifinalists this year, FCPS said in a press release. 

The finalists will be announced around February 2012.