Matthew Hancock, Melanie Neal recognized by board

Matthew Hancock and Melanie Neal, members of the 2007 senior class at Whitehouse High School, have been recognized by the College Board's National Hispanic Recognition Program as National Hispanic Scholars, announced WHS Principal Tony Black.

The National Hispanic Recognition Program, established in 1983, is a College Board program that provides national recognition of the exceptional academic achievements of Hispanic high school seniors and identifies them for postsecondary institutions.

Students enter the program by taking the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT) as high school juniors and by identifying themselves as Hispanic. This year, more than 175,000 PSAT/NMSQT takers nationwide identified themselves as Hispanic, and 4,700 of the highest scorers have been recognized as National Hispanic Scholars or Honorable Mention Finalists based on their PSAT/NMSQT scores and their academic achievements. Students whose high school GPA is 3.0 through 3.49 are recognized as "Honorable Mention" finalists. Students whose GPA is 3.5 or above are recognized as "Scholars."

As a recognition program, there is no monetary award associated with these selections from the College Board. However, the College Board provides the names of the selected students to subscribing colleges and universities.