Achievers

Semifinalists

Several local students were named semifinalists in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half the finalists will win a Merit Scholarship.

Semifinalists include:

--Academic Magnet High: Oran S. Baldwin, George A. Book, Medha V. Chandorkar, Emily Y. Chong, Kerry L. DiGiacomo, Tiernan S. Garsys, Edward J. Harrell, Alexander M. Ikonomidis, Tylor E. Jeffers, En Tzu Liu, Christin E. McGary, Shannon R. McGue, Emily E. Still, Rebecca Thompson, Emily J. Tonks, David T. Zhang, William T. Zhang.

--Ashley Hall: Rebecca C. Rosen.

--Ashley Ridge High School: Victor T. Castro.

--Bishop England: Marina A. Hart.

--Fort Dorchester High School: James A. Dickey and Stefan A. Topper

--Hanahan High School: Robert C. Johnson.

--Home school: Nathaniel D. Edwards and Stephen Fry.

--James Island Charter High School: Andrew A. Gaines and Breena L. Nolan.

--Palmetto Christian Academy: Courtney L. Holscher.

--Pinewood Preparatory School: Katharine C. Hehn and Austin R. Shepard.

--Porter-Gaud School: John M. Crawford, Rebecca L. Ellison, Richard H. Gadsden, Kelly R. Herring and Hampton T. Webb.

--Wando High: Jennica C. Egan, William K. Franklin, Emily S. Nyers, Paige A. Weldon and Karen E. Woods.

Va. Tech honors

Students were named to the dean's list at Virginia Tech. To qualify, students need a 3.4 GPA. They include William M. Richardson, Charleston; George H. Cooke, David A. Quick, Rebecca S. Lindstrom, Cory D. Smith and Jacob D. Smith, all Mount Pleasant; Breeden B. Jolly, Summerville.

Georgia Tech

Eric Powers of Mount Pleasant earned the distinction of Faculty Honors at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Undergraduate students earning a 4.0 average receive the honor.

Baylor honors

Atlee R. Johnston of McClellanville was named to the dean's academic honor list at Baylor University. To be named to the list, a student must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.7.

Lawrence honors

Skylar Kogelschatz of Mount Pleasant was named to the 2009-10 Lawrence University dean's list for maintaining a minimum 3.4 GPA.