Two Alameda Students Receive National Merit Scholarships

ALAMEDA, CA — Two students of Alameda schools were named National Merit Scholarship Corp. award winners this week. One attends Alameda High School, while the other is a San Leandro resident who attends private school in Alameda.

The 2,500 Merit Scholars who each won a $2,500 scholarship were chosen from a pool of 16,000 finalists, according to the corporation.

Winners were judged based on their academic record, SAT and PSAT scores, participation in school and community activities, recommendations and essays. A team of college admissions officers and high school counselors chose the finalists.

Merit Scholars were announced Wednesday and included the following students:

• Ryan Y. Cheng, Probable career field: Physics, ALAMEDA H. S.
• Alexander Julian Lemos Rayo of San Leandro, Probable career field: Medicine, ST. JOSEPH- NOTRE DAME H. S., ALAMEDA

This announcement marked the second round of National Merit Scholarship awardees in 2021. Additional winners will be announced June 2 and July 12.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. said it will award a total of $30 million to 7,500 "academic champions" by this fall.

— Written by Courtney Teague with additional reporting by Bea Karnes