Staff Report

The 2006 National Merit Scholarship program has accepted 17 rising Nansemond-Suffolk Academy juniors who took the 2004 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), headmaster Shane A. Foster announced last week.

Students included are as follows: Katy Bagley, Andy Bunch, Colleen Campbell, Sudipta Devanath, Peter Duckett, Frank George, Jeffrey Iiams, Zachary Irby, Melissa Lowder, Erin Matson, Brent Parham, Anna Park, Siddharth Shah, Sean Tennant, Hannah Trostle, Jeffrey Whalen and Rachel Zetts.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

These NSA students will now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 Merit Scholarship awards, worth more than $32 million, that will be offered next fall.

&uot;These young men and women have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their performance in our very competitive program,&uot; reads a statement from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

&uot;In a nation that values excellence, it is important to publicly honor scholastically talented youth and acknowledge the role schools play in nurturing their development.

We hope the recognition will augment the educational opportunities of these students and encourage others to strive to realize their potential.&uot;