During the October 1, 2012, Forney ISD Board of Trustees regularly scheduled meeting two students were recognized as commended students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
During the October 1, 2012, Forney ISD Board of Trustees regularly scheduled meeting two students were recognized as commended students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
North Forney High School Principal Dr. Joe Kucera presented Jared Seth Emmons as a National Merit Commended Scholar. Jared Emmons is only the second student to receive this commendation for North Forney HS; the first recipient was his older brother, Justin Emmons. Jared Emmons plans to either attend Lamar University or the University of Houston and major in sign language.
Forney High School Principal Steve Whiffen also presented Justin Tyler Knight as a National Merit Commended Scholar. Knight is involved in the Health Science Program at Forney High School. One of Knight's teachers told Principal Whiffen about Knight, "if he does go on to become a doctor, he's the guy you want operating on you. He's meticulous, everything gets done, everything gets done well."
The National Merit Scholarship Program's website states the program is, “an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955." Students qualify by taking their PSAT no later than their third year in high school. Roughly 1.5 million students take their PSAT and about 50,000 of the top scorers qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Two-thirds of the 50,000 top scorers are then given a Letter of Commendation. The remaining one-third of the students will move on as semifinalists in the competition.
Some notable finalist include:
Jeffrey P. Bezos, National Merit Scholarship in 1982, went on to become Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com.
Peter A. Thiel, National Merit Scholarship in 1985, co-founded PayPal.
Bill Gates, National Merit Scholarship in 1973, co-founded Microsoft and became one of the world's richest men.
Ben Bernanke, National Merit Scholarship in 1971, became the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Stephenie Meyer, Brigham Young University Merit Scholarship in 1992, authored the vampire series Twilight.
| Jared Emmons - North Forney HS | Justin Knight - Forney HS |
