Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of Finalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program – two of them being Texas High School Seniors, Jenna Woodard and Kate Woodard.
These academically talented high school seniors will now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered in the Spring.
To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test (PSAT/NMSQT). Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Both Jenna and Kate are four-year members of the Texas High School Marching Band and Drumline. Jenna was named a Texas Music Educators Association All-Region Band member during the past three years while Kate was chosen for the same honor during her junior and senior year. Jenna qualified for State Solo & Ensemble for the past four years and Kate qualified for State Solo & Ensemble during her freshman and senior year.
As members of TigerVision, Kate has served as an Editor and Executive Producer of the daily live shows and both, Jenna and Kate were team members on the short film, Gifted, which received Best Art Direction and Set Design awards during the Student Television Network National Awards program.
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During their junior year, Jenna and Kate were selected to participate in the Texas high school Aerospace Scholars (HAS) Project sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Through this project, they applied their math and science skills via interactive lessons and participated in a week-long residential program at Johnson Space Center working directly with NASA engineers and scientists on hands-on design challenges and engineering activities to plan a mission to Mars.
Both students were chosen to be part of the 2020 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program where students are able to further develop their teamwork and leadership skills with other students from Texarkana and North East Texas.
Jenna and Kate are members of National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Calculus Club and have received multiple academic awards.
They are the daughters of Joanna Pridgen and Rusty Woodard.
