Fourteen seniors in the county were named National Achievement semifinalists, including one Whitman student.

The award is given to outstanding African American students, and is based on PSAT performance.

Senior Rachael Lee is Whitman’s sole semifinalist this year. She did not know the exact requirements to qualify, but was happy with her results.

“I didn’t know how well you had to do, so obviously I was surprised,” she said.

According to the National Merit website, the program’s mission is to recognize high achieving African American students, and provide opportunities to those kids.

“It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants.”

Over 1,600 African American Students qualified for the award, and are competing for one of 800 scholarships.

Questions arose about Lee’s ethnicity after she checked the African American box on the test. The scholarship committee contacted the school because she was not listed as African American, but rather as an Asian because at Whitman students cannot identify with two different ethnicities.

“I cleared it up though, and was able to qualify for the competition again,” she said.

The fourteen county seniors are among the 71 total semifinalists from Maryland.