13 isle students earn national awards

Two are named Presidential Scholars; 11 others win National Merit scholarships

Thirteen seniors from Hawaii private and public schools have received national honors.

Christopher Burniske of Punahou School and Ciera Cummings of Kamehameha Schools were named 2008 Presidential Scholars. They will join 137 other scholars from across the country who will be recognized in June in Washington, D.C., for their academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, and service to their schools and communities.

Meanwhile, 11 isle students have won $2,500 National Merit scholarships.

College admissions officers and high school counselors judged the scholarship winners on academic records and potential for success in college. The Hawaii students are among 2,500 recipients of Merit scholarships from a pool of some 15,000 finalists nationwide.

They are:

Iolani School: Pamela H. Ho, Leslie N. Kim, Aleksi W. Lee, Clay K. Ozaki-Train and Alanna Y. Cooney

Damien Memorial School: Christopher A. Ballesteros

Saint Louis School: Kevin J. Donahue

Kamehameha Schools: Nathan J. Nakatsuka

Kaiser High School: John J. Pyun

Punahou School: Ananya Ray

Mililani High School: Philip Mocz