MARIETTA - Twelve Cobb students are among more than 1,600 black high school students across the country in the running to receive scholarships from the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

The program, which is run by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, recognizes promising black students throughout the nation each year and provides 800 scholarships - worth more than $2.6 million - to those selected to receive a National Achievement Scholarship.

Semifinalists attending high schools in Cobb are: Justin V. Payne of Kennesaw Mountain High School; Jamillah Williams of Covenant Christian Ministries Academy; Taylor M. Montgomery of Lassister High School; Rodney E. Littlejohn of Marietta High School; Ryan Gibson of George Walton Comprehensive High School; Vincent K. James, Wynton M. Redmond, Amber Reynolds and Phillip Tyler, all of Wheeler High School; Lauren P. Jenkins, Mara D. Johnson and Lauren McDade, all of Campbell High School.

The students were selected as semifinalists from an initial pool of about 150,000 qualifying students based on their Preliminary SAT scores taken during their junior year, said National Merit Scholarship Corp. spokeswoman Michelle Robbins.

Now, they will compete to become among 1,300 finalists for the scholarship program. They'll be judged based on their academic record, activities, leadership roles, a school recommendation and an essay. Those selected as finalists will be chosen in late-January.

In February, the program will announce the 800 winners of the privately financed scholarship. Seven hundred of them will each receive $2,500, and the remaining 100 students will receive corporate-sponsored scholarships, of varying amounts, based on such things as the college or major they select.

Established in 1964, the National Achievement Scholarship has its roots in the Civil Rights Movement, Robbins said.

"There was a need to encourage minorities to pursue higher education," Robbins said. "Our hope is that the recognition of these students will open more doors for them."

Of all the schools in Cobb, Wheeler High School in east Cobb had the most students selected as scholarship semifinalists. That distinction is quite an honor, said Wheeler Principal Ed Thayer.

"When students are recognized for individual achievements it makes the school really proud," he said.

"These students have really put in a lot of time and effort to receive this recognition and it's well-deserved."

Amber Reynolds is among the four Wheeler students competing for the scholarship. The 17-year-old senior class president hopes to major in biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech next fall.

"It's a great achievement, and I didn't expect to get the honor," Reynolds said.

mhoward@mdjonline.com

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