See which Louisiana schools had National Merit Scholarship winners, a top academic honor

Thirty-eight high school seniors in Louisiana have captured scholarships so far as part of the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

These include winners announced Wednesday as well as three who were announced April 26.

More winners are being announced June 7 and July 10. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, 7,140 students will have won National Merit Scholarships worth more than $28 million.

The New Orleans area, including the Northshore, has 14 scholarship winners so far while the Baton Rouge has 12 winners. Shreveport is next with seven winners.

Of the five remaining winners, four are from south Louisiana and one is from north Louisiana.

The scholarships announced Wednesday are a flat amount of $2,500 each and are being financed by the organizers of the National Merit scholarship program. The three scholarships announced April 26 are funded by corporations and their value ranges from $1,000 to $10,000 a year.

The high schools with the most seniors receiving National Merit scholarships so far are Baton Rouge Magnet High in Baton Rouge with five, followed by Caddo Parish Magnet in Shreveport with four and Ben Franklin High in New Orleans with three.

Here are the Louisiana winners:

BATON ROUGE: Maria Hargrave, St. Joseph’s Academy; Pranav R. Jadhav, Baton Rouge Magnet; Georgia J. Lauve, Parkview Baptist High; Sarah Li, Baton Rouge Magnet; Kai Nguyen Loo, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in Avondale; Keanna M. Luo, Baton Rouge Magnet; Edward C. Mayeux, Catholic High; Carter C. McLean, Episcopal High; Alexander Q. Wei, Baton Rouge Magnet; and Alexander Wu, Baton Rouge Magnet.

BERWICK: Evan P. White, Berwick High.

COVINGTON: Matthew G. Robert, Fontainebleau High in Mandeville.

EVANGELINE: Jonathon D. Bergeaux, Jennings High.

GONZALES: Jake Thomas Rizzo, The Dunham School in Baton Rouge.

LAFAYETTE: Kerry L. Pan, Lafayette High.

LAKE CHARLES: Joy T. Dong, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches.

MANDEVILLE: Riley E. Lenahan, Mandeville High and Peter G. Verges, St. Paul’s School in Covington.

METAIRIE: Patrick J. Dowd, Jesuit High in New Orleans; Kyle D. Jackson, Jesuit High in New Orleans; Jacob Niyazov, Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies; Brinley Pethe, Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies; and Diego A. Swonger, Archbishop Rummel High.

NEW ORLEANS: Alastair Deng, Ben Franklin High; Elizabeth J. Payne, Isidore Newman School; Lee Tao, Ben Franklin High; Katherine F. Williams, Isidore Newman School; and Christina You, Ben Franklin High.

PRAIRIEVILLE: Ephraim S. Craddock, St. Amant High.

RUSTON: Devika Dua, Cedar Creek School.

SHREVEPORT: Calvin D. Alexander, Caddo Parish Magnet; Maeve R. Chmielewski, Loyola College Preparatory School; Nhi H. Dao, Caddo Parish Magnet; Devon B. Meyer, Caddo Parish Magnet; Hannah R. Pearce, C.E. Byrd High; James Frank Stratton, C.E. Byrd High; and Eshika Tandon, Caddo Parish Magnet.

SLIDELL: Taylor L. Vander, Northshore High.