IMSA Seniors Named National Achievement Semifinalists
For Immediate Release, September 1999
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at
(630) 907-5033
AURORA-- Three seniors at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) have qualified as semifinalists in the year 2000 National Achievement Scholarship Program, an academic competition for Black American high school students.
The students and their former schools include Moses Harris of Chicago (Young Magnet High School), Donielle Newell of Naperville (Downers Grove South High School) and Christina Washington of Elgin (Larkin High School).
They are among approximately 1,500 semifinalists now eligible to compete for 700 achievement scholarships. The program, conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is supported by corporate organizations, professional associations, higher education institutions, and NMSC’s own funds.
These three are among nearly 100,000 African-American students nationwide who took the 1998 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), the test used in the competition. Scholarships worth about $2.5 million dollars will be awarded to selected finalists next spring.
Located in Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created by the State to develop talent and stimulate excellence in teaching and learning in mathematics, science and technology. IMSA's advanced residential college preparatory program enrolls 650 academically talented Illinois students in grades 10-12. More than 14,000 teachers and 20,000 students in Illinois and beyond have benefited from IMSA's professional development and enrichment programs. IMSA serves the people of Illinois through innovative instructional programs, public and private partnerships, policy leadership and action research.