Jones wins National Achievement Scholarship

EVANSTON, Ill. ? National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday that Fairfield High School student Edna Jones has received a National Achievement Scholarship.

Jones was one of 800 Black American high school seniors to receive the scholarship, worth $2,500.

The single-payment scholarships were awarded on a regional representation basis in proportion to the population of Black Americans in each geographic region. Awardees were judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.

More than 160,000 students entered the 2011 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration when they took the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors. In September 2010, approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis. To continue in the competition, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for finalist standing. From the semifinalist pool, some 1,300 advanced to the finalist level, and all National Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from this group of outstanding students.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented Black American youth, and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.