Six Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students have been named winners of Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). The students are part of a group of more than 2,500 National Merit® finalists chosen to receive scholarships financed by higher education institutions. Winners of the scholarships, with their probable career fields in parentheses, are:

*Jeffrey Lu of Herndon High School (engineering), National Merit Case Western Reserve University Scholarship.

*Jamison Fox-Canning of Langley High School (game design), National Merit Rochester Institute of Technology Scholarship.

*Kyle Gaulke of Robinson Secondary School (game design), National Merit Rochester Institute of Technology Scholarship.

*Cameron Plunkett of Robinson Secondary School (economics), National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship.

*Rebecca Hyndman of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSSST) (biochemical research), National Merit Wheaton College Scholarship.

*Lizaveta Miadzvedskaya of TJHSST (law), National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship.

Each scholarship winner was evaluated on his or her academic record, including difficulty levels of subjects studied and grades earned; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay describing activities, interests, and goals; SAT scores that confirmed outstanding test performance; and a recommendation and endorsement from a high school official. Each award provides between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the recipient’s scholarship.

The final group of NMSC scholarship recipients from the class of 2012 will be named in July.