Scholarship program announces first group of 2020 winners

Roughly a dozen San Diego-area students are in the first group of winners announced in the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s 65th annual scholarship program.

About 1,000 distinguished high school seniors nationwide have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships financed by about 160 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.

Scholars were selected from students who reached the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsors wish to encourage.

Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use

Carlsbad:

Sage Creek High School: Isha Soni, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship

La Jolla:

The Bishop’s School: Jasmine J. Chen, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship; Meredith J. Hunter, National Merit Hunter Industries Scholarship

San Diego:

Canyon Crest Academy: Faith Zhang, National Merit Pfizer Inc. Scholarship

Scripps Ranch High School: Ashvin Choudhary, National Merit Brown & Brown Scholarship; Ryan T. Mikami, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship; Mahek Shah, National Merit Boeing Scholarship

Torrey Pines High School: Jerry Y. Huang, National Merit Teradata Scholarship; Elizabeth M. Readey, School, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship

Westview High School: Brandon Ho, National Merit Johnson & Johnson Scholarship; Arav Watwani, National Merit LPL Financial Scholarship; Danqi Zhang, National Merit Pfizer Inc. Scholarship

— Laura Groch is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune