SHELBY COUNTY, Tennessee —
Schools may be closed early due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Wednesday 13 area students moved to the head of the class.
8 students from private Memphis schools and 5 from area public schools were named Nation Merit Scholarship winners. They were selected from more than 15,000 finalists around the United States. The prestigious honor comes with a $2,500 scholarship for each winner.
Winners were chosen based on a number of factors, including essays written by the finalists, Preliminary SAT exam scores, academic records, and leadership in school and community activities.
The 13 students from Shelby County are:
Margaret I. Alexander of Bartlett, St. Benedict at Auburndale School
Alan J. Black of Germantown, Christian Brothers High School
Srikrishna C. Dasari of Memphis, White Station High School
Isabel G. Dlabach of Eads, St. George’s Independent School
Helen M. Gillespie of Memphis, Hutchison School
Robert E. McFadden of Arlington, Memphis University School
Brandon Kent Neil of Collierville, Collierville High School
Victoria Y. Ouyang of Collierville, St. Mary’s Episcopal School
Arjun Puri of Germantown, Memphis University School
Harrison T. Stewart of Germantown, Collierville High School
Natalie V. Vallejo of Memphis, St. Mary’s Episcopal School
Megan M. Wisniewski of Germantown, Houston High School
Jonathan Zhang of Memphis, White Station High School
