McKinney, Texas - At the November 18 meeting of the McKinney ISD Board of Trustees, the board and district officials recognized the impressive academic achievements of some 150 MISD juniors and seniors who have earned honors as National Merit Semifinalists, National Merit Commended Scholars or recipients of College Board’s National Recognition Program awards.
National Merit Semifinalists
In September, officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Among the honorees were four students from McKinney Boyd High School and two from McKinney High School. National Merit Semifinalists make up fewer than 1 percent of the more than 1.3 million juniors who entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) in 2023, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
McKinney ISD National Merit Semifinalists at the MISD Board of Trustees meeting held on November 18, 2024, at the MISD Community Event Center.
McKinney Boyd High School National Merit Semifinalists
Andrew Frost
Richard Jeong
Rebekah Lessner
Logan Schwab
McKinney High School National Merit Semifinalists
Mabel Cotter
Edwin Varghese
National Merit Commended Scholars
About two-thirds (about 34,000) of the high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT were designated Commended Students. In recognition of their outstanding ability and potential for academic success in college, NMSC honored these students by sending Letters of Commendation. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, some may be candidates for Special Scholarships offered by corporate sponsors. These remarkable students represent the top 2 percent of juniors who took the PSAT/NMSQT.
Six students from McKinney Boyd High School, five from McKinney High School and six from McKinney North High School earned honors as National Merit Commended Scholars.
McKinney ISD National Merit Commended Scholars at the MISD Board of Trustees meeting held on November 18, 2024, at the MISD Community Event Center.
McKinney Boyd High School National Merit Commended Scholars
Alyx Bernal-Johnson
David Montano
Ayaan Mustafa
Derrick Newton
Madeline See
Mason Wakefield
McKinney High School National Merit Commended Scholars
Chase Berndt
Lauren Hunsaker
Dylan Jacobs
Emily McManis
Hannah Tadesse
McKinney North High School National Merit Commended Scholars
Liam Getchell
Reed Hisle
Jacob Montgomery
Gracyn Reddick
Alan Sutherland
Cali Tyler
College Board National Recognition Program Awards
The College Board National Recognition Programs award academic honors to high-performing, underrepresented students. The five national recognition programs include the National African American Recognition Program, National First-Generation Recognition Program (beginning in 2024), National Hispanic Recognition Program, National Indigenous Recognition Program and National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.
Award recipients must be strong academic performers. Students who take eligible administrations of the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, or AP Exams and meet the score requirements are considered for awards. Among the criteria, honorees must be in the top 10 percent among PSAT 10 and PSAT/NMSQT test takers in 11th grade in their state for their award program or have received a 3+ score on at least 2 distinct AP Exams by the end of 10th grade.
One hundred thirty-seven MISD students earned College Board recognition.
McKinney Boyd High School College Board National Recognition Program Award recipients at the MISD Board of Trustees meeting held on November 18, 2024, at the MISD Community Event Center.
McKinney Boyd High School National Recognition Program Award Recipients
Faysal Ambari – African American Recognition
Natalia Ambrosio – Hispanic Recognition
Ryder Barton – First Generation Recognition
Brooks Bell – First Generation Recognition
Alyx Bernal – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Parker Brown – African American Recognition
Christian Caballero – Hispanic Recognition
Maggie Celeste – Hispanic Recognition
Tyson Collins – African American Recognition
Juan Cortes – Hispanic Recognition
Katelyn Cotten – Indigenous Recognition
Andres Fajardo – Hispanic Recognition
Paulina Fernandez – Hispanic Recognition
Nicolas Ferreira-Aguilar – Hispanic Recognition
Mily Fields – First Generation Recognition
Carlos Gonzalez – Hispanic Recognition
Lorenzo Gonzalez – Hispanic Recognition
Kamran Hafizi – African American Recognition
Haylin Henson – African American Recognition
Alexander Hernandez – Hispanic Recognition
Adam Herrera – Hispanic Recognition
Yijun Huang – First Generation Recognition
Natalie Hughes – Hispanic Recognition
Niya Ibssa – African American, First Generation Recognition
Alyssa Jeffrey – First Generation Recognition
Xiyao Jiang – First Generation Recognition
Nyla Johnson – African American Recognition
Parker Kolias – Hispanic Recognition
Octavian Kopman – First Generation Recognition
Isaac Lafuente – Indigenous Recognition
Nicolas Lanz – Hispanic Recognition
Ethan Larriva – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Aiden Lewis – African American, First Generation Recognition
Reagan Luna – Hispanic Recognition
Ella Macfee – First Generation Recognition
Lance Martinez – Hispanic Recognition Program
Jayden Mays – African American Recognition
Shane McClure – First Generation Recognition
Mariana Miranda – Hispanic Recognition
Kaidence Mitchell – African American Recognition
David Montano – Hispanic Recognition
Felipe Montiero Ambrosio – Hispanic Recognition
David Moss – African American Recognition
Alyssa Mullen – Hispanic Recognition
Andrew Na – First Generation Recognition
Victoria Oladipo – African American Recognition
Mattison Olson – First Generation Recognition
Noor Ouldaissa – First Generation Recognition
Mejdoub Ouldaissa – African American, First Generation Recognition
Chudi Oyiogu – African American Recognition
Spencer Papon – Indigenous Recognition
Namasvi Patel – First Generation Recognition
Sanvi Patel – First Generation Recognition
Thomas Pena – Hispanic Recognition
Sarah Quevedo – Hispanic Recognition
Hadley Ramirez – Hispanic Recognition
Francisco Rea – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Johnathan Redford – African American Recognition
Audrey Reding – First Generation Recognition
Delani SImmons – Hispanic Recognition
Eric Sanchez Lopez – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Samantha Schroeder – First Generation Recognition
Sola Selmon – African American Recognition
London Stephens – First Generation, Indigenous Recognition
James Swanson – Hispanic Recognition
Logan Tamez – Hispanic Recognition
Madison Triplett – African American Recognition
Laney Van Skyock – First Generation Recognition
Sarah Varnell – Indigenous Recognition
Braxten Williams – African American Recognition
McKinney High School College Board National Recognition Program Award recipients at the MISD Board of Trustees meeting held on November 18, 2024, at the MISD Community Event Center.
McKinney High School National Recognition Program Award Recipients
Zalana Aguillard – African American Recognition
Bailey Albuquerque – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Tiarra Banda – African American Recognition
Brooke Barragan – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
K’Lee Bumpus – Hispanic Recognition
Anson Chen – First Generation Recognition
Chloe Cole – Hispanic Recognition
Melina Corts – Hispanic Recognition
Saniya Davis – African American Recognition
Alejandra Dominguez – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Kendall Ellison – African American Recognition
Amarisa Espino – First Generation Recognition
Valentina Falanga – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Diana Figueroa Hernandez – Hispanic Recognition
Savannah Fletes – African American Recognition
Erick Hernandez – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Ashton Hernandez – Hispanic Recognition
Danielle Howard – African American Recognition
Wesley Jandoc – Indigenous Recognition
Siobhan Kanapkey – First Generation Recognition
Joo-an Kim – First Generation Recognition
Hannah Lee – First Generation Recognition
Elohim Little – African American Recognition
Mildred Lopez – Hispanic Recognition
Megan Machuca – Hispanic Recognition
Avery McGrath – Hispanic Recognition
Spencer Milla – Hispanic Recognition
Kinsey Molina – Hispanic, Indigenous Recognition
Sara Muller – Hispanic Recognition
Eduard Najera – Hispanic Recognition
Elias Navarro – Hispanic Recognition
Trang Nguyen – First Generation Recognition
Breanah Nnadi – African American Recognition
Daniel Nwaekwe – African American Recognition Program
Ifeoluwa Osundina – African American Recognition
Nancy Petrik – Hispanic Recognition Program
Anthony Rios – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Drea Roots – African American, Hispanic Recognition
Derek Schlamel – African American Recognition
Eli Solis – Hispanic Recognition
Bryce Stavely – First Generation Recognition
Julian Sumner – African American, First Generation Recognition
Ibrahima Khalil Traore – African American, First Generation Recognition
Julianna Wieghat – First Generation Recognition
Tyler Young – First Generation Recognition
McKinney North High School College Board National Recognition Program Award recipients at the MISD Board of Trustees meeting held on November 18, 2024, at the MISD Community Event Center.
McKinney North High School National Recognition Program Award Recipients
Aidan Acevedo – Hispanic Recognition
Tessa Almagro – Hispanic Recognition
Hailey Arouca – First Generation Recognition
Allison Cardenas – First Generation, Hispanic, Indigenous Recognition
Jasmine Chareunsap – First Generation Recognition
Kiana Danielson – First Generation Recognition
Hannah Drane – African American Recognition
Adrian Esparza – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Elliott Fuller – First Generation Recognition
Tristan Goo – First Generation, Hispanic Recognition
Amr Hassan – African American Recognition
Jaelynn Jewtuch – Hispanic Recognition
Arianna Johnson – African American Recognition
Avary Kupradit – First Generation Recognition
Daniel Ly – First Generation Recognition
Jacob Montgomery – First Generation Recognition
Rayna Santillana – Hispanic Recognition
Abigail Self – African American, First Generation Recognition
Lucas Silva – Hispanic Recognition
Campbell Thurow – Indigenous Recognition
Eric Tierrablanca – First Generation Recognition
Rafaela Zentner – Hispanic Recognition