Henry Clay, Winchester students receive 2021 National Merit corporate scholarships

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Two seniors at Henry Clay High School in Fayette County and one from Winchester are among seven Kentucky recipients (21MeritCorpScholarsKENTUCKY ) of 2021 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards.

Henry Clay’s Megan Ewing, who got the Parker Hannifin Scholarship, and classmate Catherine Lucier, who received the Battelle Scholarship, are both interested in computer programming as a career path.

Zachary W. Gibson, a senior at George Rogers Clark High in Winchester, received the James E. Casey Scholarship created by the U.S. Postal Service. Engineering is his likely career path.

About 140 corporations, company foundations, and business organizations provided awards for some 1,000 National Merit finalists who are children of their employees, live in communities the company serves, or plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most will receive annual stipends ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 that are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study. Some awards provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

In the National Merit Scholarship Corp. annual program, winners are the finalists deemed to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

In addition to the corporate-sponsored group, recipients of this year’s $2,500 awards will be announced May 12 and winners of college-sponsored merit scholarships on June 2 and July 12.

By the end, some 7,500 seniors will have received scholarships worth about $30 million.