The College Board recently recognized a number of students for their performance in the National Merit Scholarships competition and other programs.

More than 1.5 million students across the nation took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) last year in order to be eligible for this year's National Merit Scholarship Competition. Approximately 9,700 students will eventually receive National Merit Scholarships, and 50,000 students are currently being recognized for their achievement in this program.

The following students from Carrboro High School have been named semifinalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Competition: Erin Harrington, Jonathan Schuyler Kylstra and Julianne Ragland.

The following students from Chapel Hill High School have been named semifinalists: Sarah Anderson, Mary Ann Anstine, Julie Crimmins, Robert Gollmar, Mariana Hernandez, Andrew Hertzberg, Erin Humphries, Sara Outing, Ranjit Poonnen, Ellen Porter, Maria Van Aalst and Megan Westman.

The following students from East Chapel Hill High School have been named Semifinalists: Alexandru Bacanu, Tyler Bench, Isabel Blue, Hannah Flake, Jennifer Huang, Bernard Jiang, Wujun Ke, Arthur Kim, Rebecca Lange, Rachel Liao, Charmaine Mutucumarana, Preetha Nandi, Thomas Price, Millie Rosen, Carter Ruff and Alan Toda-Ambaras.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2009 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students place in the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2009 competition.

Commended Students from Carrboro High School included: Aidan Burns-Fulkerson, Eric Cotton, Emily Hamilton, Mackenzie Price and Mariel Steen.

Commended Students from Chapel Hill High School included: Juliana Brecher, Patrick Dear, Sarah Dehart, Eric Lang, Michael Lo, Kacie Neville, Barbara Parks, Nicholas Powers-Maher, Molly Spencer, Zoe Symon and Matthew Underwood.

Commended Students from East Chapel Hill High School included: Ariel Westmoreland, Benjamin Brown, Mason Cordell, Jason Elangbam, Mark Filpus, Meryl Goldstein, Elsbeth Grant, Mattis Hennings, Jun Hong, Alexander Howerton, Emily Jessup, Jonathan Lang, Garrett Langley Henson, William Laundon, Austyn Laures, Camellia Lee, Shuo Liu, Joshua Loyal, Hayley Madden, Alexander Mariakakis, Katherine McIlwain, Sehwa Oh, Benjamin Palmer, Yang Pan, Kiersten Paul, Hannah Peel, Ian Seim, Christopher Serody, Joseph Shea, Yvonne Socolar, Elise Stave, Emily Trabert, Robert Vaughn, Alexa Waters, Trent Wei, Sebastian Werner, Katherine Williams, Zachary Witter and Andranik Yeliazyan.

The National Achievement Program recognizes 4,700 outstanding African American students. More than 150,000 African American students enter the Achievement Program by taking the SAT, and 800 of these students will receive scholarships.

Thomas Colby Isabel of Carrboro High School was recognized by the National Achievement Program.

Amber Bivins of Chapel Hill High School was recognized by the National Achievement Program. Sara Outing of Chapel Hill High was named a semifinalist in the National Achievement Program.

Myisha Eatmon and Monica Lallinger of East Chapel Hill High School were recognized by the National Achievement Program.

The National Hispanic Recognition Program honors outstanding Hispanic students and shares information about them with colleges and universities.

Mariana Hernandez of Chapel Hill High School was named to the National Hispanic Recognition Program.

Mario Gazzola, Austin Laures and Sebastian Werner of East Chapel Hill High School were named to the National Hispanic Recognition Program.