Autumn Dowden, a LHS senior, is one of approximately 16,000 students nationwide named a National Merit semifinalist.

Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced her selection. “These 16,000 academically talented students come from every state and, although the represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, they are excellent representatives of our nation’s youth,” commented an NMSC spokesperson.

Autumn participates in orchestra and attends Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She has been selected for the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. She has received the Rensselaer Medal for Math and Science is an AP Scholar. Her post high school plans are to work for a year in a foreign country and then attend college. She would eventually like to work as an interpreter or possibly become a missionary.

Autumn was among more than 1.3 million juniors in over 20,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2003 National Merit Program by taking the 2001 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The next step the semifinalists have to take is to compete for a Merit Scholarship award. The semifinalist must have a record of very high academic performance and must earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. Semifinalists and a school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes a self-descriptive essay and information about their leadership in school and community activities.