Byrant Johnson
Eastside High School student Bryant Johnson has been recognized for superior academic achievement and been selected for membership into The National Society of High School Scholars. Johnson qualified in not one but two categories. He has a GPA of 4.0 and is also ranked in the top 10 percent of his class.

"On behalf of NSHSS, I am honored to recognize the hard work, sacrifice, and commitment that Bryant has demonstrated to achieve this level of academic excellence," said Mr. Claes Nobel, founder and chairman of NSHSS and senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes. "Bryant is now a member of a unique community of scholars-a community that represents our very best hope for the future."

In addition to his excellent academic record, Johnson, a junior, is also extremely busy with extracurricular activities. He participates in varsity football, mock trial, Beta Club, Leadership Council for football, the National Honor Society, Student Advisory Council and Student Government.

"Bryant Johnson is an exemplary student who is very well-rounded," said Tina Daniel-Reasey, EHS Counselor and Department Chair. "He shines academically, which is why he is being honored with this membership, but he also has a vibrant personality, involvement in the community as a volunteer, and is athletically competitive."

"This is definitely an honor," said Johnson. "I was actually surprised when I received the invitation."

Johnson attended a special reception for new members at the Carter Center in Atlanta where he had the chance to see several notable dignitaries, including Mr. Nobel. "It was a good experience," said Johnson. "There were some very interesting people there, including Mr. Claes Nobel and also the vice-president of Abercrombie and Fitch. It was definitely an honor to be invited."

"Our vision is to build a dynamic international organization that connects members with meaningful content, resources, and opportunities," said NSHSS President James Lewis. "We aim to help students like Bryant build on their academic successes and enhance the skills and desires to have a positive impact on the global community."

NSHSS is an honor society that recognizes top academic achievers from high schools around the world. The mission of the society is to recognize academic excellence among high school students and to encourage members to apply their unique talents, vision, and potential for the betterment of is designed to connect young scholars with each other and to provide additional resources to help them succeed in scholarship, leadership, and service.

Membership is by nomination only and in order to qualify, students must meet one of the following standards: 1750 SAT score or higher, 200 PSAT score or higher, 26+ ACT score or higher, score 4 or higher on any AP exam, 3.5 cumulative GPA (4.0 Scale) or higher or top 10 percent rank in class.

Seth Kimbrell
Seth Kimbrell, a senior at EHS, has been named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist - one of only approximately 15,000 in the nation. Kimbrell is now in the running for one of the 8,300 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in this, the 57th year of the National Merit Scholarship Program. In order to participate in the National Merit Scholarship program, students must take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and meet other program requirements.

In addition to attending Eastside High School, Kimbrell also attends Georgia Perimeter College as part of the Dual Enrollment Program, where he is currently enrolled in English, psychology, and geology classes. Combined with his two advanced placement classes at Eastside-Economics and Latin V-Kimbrell has a very full plate. He still finds time to participate in extracurricular activities such as cross country, the Academic Team, Junior Classical, and Latin V.

Kimbrell has already been accepted to Georgia Tech; however, his first choice is Yale, where he is currently on deferment.

"I'll know in April whether or not I'm accepted," said Kimbrell. "I've also applied to Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Vanderbilt, and UGA (University of Georgia) and I should know about them right around the same time. April will hopefully be a very exciting month."

Kimbrell plans on majoring in Latin in college but is also looking at a dual major in physics as well. "Latin still is number one for me. It has its hand around me," he laughed. "I just need to decide if that's what I want my career to be in. If I go for a career in Latin, I would like to teach in high school. I'm just twisted on whether or not I want that to be my career path."

Kimbrell was stunned when he learned he had made it to the finalist round of the National Merit Scholarship Program. "All I can say is, ‘Wow!'" he said. "When I took the PSAT I didn't expect to make it this far. I was thrilled to make it to semifinalist and I'm even more thrilled to make finalist. Wherever I go to college, I'm going to need some money, so hopefully this will help me get some money for college."

"Being named a finalist is a great honor for our student, Seth Kimbrell," said Tina Daniel-Reasey, EHS Guidance Counselor and Department Chair. "This honor allows him many opportunities regarding scholarship and college admission offers. We are all very proud of a student who has excelled academically at Eastside and is a genuinely nice young gentleman. His hard work and dedication have truly paid off for him."

Kimbrell was named a semifinalist in the program in late 2011. In order to become a finalist, semifinalists must have attained an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. The semifinalist and high school official then had to submit a detailed scholarship application along with the student's essay information about the semifinalist's participation and leadership in school and community activities.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website, more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar title. Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in 2012.

Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis.

In addition, about 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 240 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria and about 200 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.