3 Richmond County teens are National Merit semifinalists

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Richmond County School System has three semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

They are:

A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet School senior Rafael Geraldo.
John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School senior Hannah Zhou.
John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School senior Katelyn Scoggins.

The prestigious program awards academically talented students across the U.S. with nearly $28 million worth of academic scholarships.

Geraldo, Zhou, and Scoggins join more than 16,000 semifinalists.

“We wish them the very best as they advance to the finalist stage of the competition,” said Charlie Tudor III, advanced studies program administrator for the school district.

Semifinalists are identified in their junior year of high school based on Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Semifinalists will submit an essay and letters of recommendation to be considered for the finalist stage of the competition.

Finalists are judged based on their essay, recommendations, grade point average, SAT scores and advanced classes completed.

Finalists will be announced in April 2024.