Two locals named National Merit Scholars

ORLANDO  Orange County Public Schools officials recently announced five corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners, two of which attend high schools in the Windermere Observer area.

Dr. Phillips' Anli Chen and Olympia's Deesha Desai won based on consistent high academic achievement, strong PSAT and SAT scores, essays submitted to the program and recommendations from school officials.

Corporate sponsors offer scholarships to finalists who are their employees' children, residents of the community the company works in or plan to pursue college majors or careers sponsors want to encourage. Scholarships range from $500 to $10,000 per year.

Northrop Grumman, a global security company, is sponsoring Chen, who is considering neurobiology as a career. Sagar G. Patel Memorial is the sponsor of Desai, whose probable career field is medicine.

For more information about the program, visit NationalMerit.org.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].