Woodstock Student Wins National Merit Achievement Scholarship

A Woodstock High School senior has been awarded a National Merit Achievement Scholarship. 

Briana Francois is among 800 seniors across the county who each won a $2,500 Achievement Scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, according to the Cherokee County School District. 

The program is a privately funded academic competition created in 1964 to help academically successful African-American students. The awards are all financed by grants from 31 corporations and professional organizations as well as the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. 

More than 160,000 students were eligible for this year’s program by taking the PSAT; 1,600 of the highest scorers on the test were named semifinalists. In order to continue in the competition, students had to maintain high academic performance, receive a recommendation from their high school, present SAT scores that confirmed their PSAT performance and submit an essay. 

From the semifinalist pool, 1,300 students advanced to the finalist level. The 800 students chosen as winners were selected from that group based on the strength of their accomplishments and potential for academic success in college. 

Briana, who is considering psychology as a major, is Woodstock's 2013-14 delegate to the Cherokee County School Board. At Woodstock, she is president of the Student Government Association Executive Board and a member of the Beta Club, DECA marketing association and international club.  

She volunteers with her church and Cherokee County Safety Town.