Schools

Fifth Dana Student Named National Merit Scholar

Senior Amanda Buckingham just snagged herself a $2,500 scholarship.

Amanda Buckingham from Dana Hills High School has been named a National Merit Scholar.

She’s among the 2,500 students named as the second group of honorees, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday.

Merit scholars were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. The $2,500 Scholarship winners from each state are judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, according to a Capistrano Unified School District press release.

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Other local winners announced Wednesday came from Capistrano Valley High School, Aliso Niguel and Tesoro.

They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 competition when they took the 2011 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship qualifying test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

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In February, it was announced the district had 14 finalists. Buckingham is joined by other Dana Hills recipients Rohit Kolar, Katherine McGauley, Andrew Pham and Devin Trabant. 


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