IMSA Seniors Named National Achievement Semifinalists
For Immediate Release, October 2005
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at
(630) 907-5033
AURORA—Six seniors at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) have qualified as semifinalists in the 2006 National Achievement Scholarship Program, an academic competition for African-American high school students.
Grant Barbosa
|
Jonathan Bragg
|
Jamison Hill
|
Jennifer Jones
|
Jessica Robertson
|
Breana Taylor
|
The students and their former schools are:
Grant Barbosa of Oak Park (Fenwick High School), Jonathan Bragg of Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook High School), Jamison Hill of Libertyville (Highland Middle School), Jennifer Jones of Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook High School), Jessica Robertson of Flossmoor (Homewood-Flossmoor High School), and Breana Taylor of Chicago (Barnard Elementary School).
They are among approximately 1,600 semifinalists now eligible to compete for about 800 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 six students are among nearly 130,000 African-American students nationwide who took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), the test used in the competition. Scholarships worth over $2 million dollars will be awarded to selected finalists next spring.
The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created by the State of Illinois to develop talent and leadership in mathematics, science and technology. IMSA's advanced residential college preparatory program enrolls 650 academically talented Illinois students in grades 10-12. Nearly 19,000 teachers and 43,000 students in Illinois and beyond have benefited from IMSA's professional development and student enrichment programs. Located in Aurora in the high-tech corridor west of Chicago, IMSA serves the people of Illinois through innovative instructional programs, public and private partnerships, policy counsel, action research, and the leadership and achievements of its graduates.