Newton County School System is pleased to announce that two NCSS seniors, Leah Wynn of Eastside High School and Andrew Kabue of Newton High School, have been named finalists in the National Achievement Scholarship Program (NASP).

The NASP recognizes academically promising African American students throughout the nation to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants. More than 150,000 high school juniors requested consideration in the 2009 program when they took the 2007 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Semi-finalists were designated within geographic regions and are the highest-scoring program entrants in the states that make up each region. In order to advance to the finalist round, the students had to maintain a record of high academic performance, be endorsed and recommended by their principal and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. The program only recognizes approximately 1,300 students nationwide as finalists.

Leah Wynn of EHS was recently named the school’s 2009 STAR student. She scored 2120 out of 2400. Although she has not made her final decision on where to attend, she has been accepted to several universities, including The University of Chicago, Notre Dame, University of Georgia, Georgetown University and Tulane. Her plans are to major in the classics and go on to law school.

“Leah Wynn has been a model student here at Eastside High School and has worked diligently throughout these four years,” said EHS principal Dr. Robert Daria. “Her dedication to academics makes us all proud and we are honored to see that she is a finalist. There is no doubt that she is deserving of this accolade.”

As testament to his academic success, Andrew Kabue has been offered a scholarship in excess of $100,000 to attend Florida A&M University. He is still receiving offers from numerous other colleges and university recruiters and has not yet decided where he will attend.

“We are extremely proud of Andrew for his well-deserved achievement as a National Achievement Scholarship finalist,” said Dr. Roderick Sams, principal of NHS. “He truly represents all the characteristics we want for all Newton High students. Thank you Andrew for serving as a true ambassador for our school.”

According to the NACP Web site, all achievement scholarship winners are selected from the group of finalists based on their abilities, skills and accomplishments – without consideration of financial circumstances or college choice.