Youth / News for the 18-and-under crowd

Two dozen Orange County students are among 2,000 winners of National Merit Scholarships, announced this week.

The students were chosen from a pool of more than 14,000 high school seniors nationwide by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors.

The $2,000 scholarships are awarded based on academic records, tests scores, essays, leadership skills, extracurricular activities and contributions to the school and community.

Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. operates the program with support from corporations, company foundations, professional associations and the program’s own private funds.

This year’s 24 award-winning Orange County students are Kevin C. Gold and Jessica S. Scott, Canyon High School, Anaheim; Andrew S. Ahn and Amy G. Chen, Brea Olinda High School, Brea; Andrew K. Cies, Santa Margarita High School, Rancho Santa Margarita; Tina C. Duan, Karen Y. Chau, Lisa D. Grinfeld and Jason D. Lee, Sunny Hills High School, Fullerton; David Y. Perez and Paul J. Scherz, Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana; and Neil V. Sheth, Marina High School, Huntington Beach.

Others are Ross A. Davisson, Shirley Hao, Grace Y. Kim, Ruth A. Murray, Parth P. Raval and Alexis H. Tygenhof, University High School, Irvine; Helen Y. Chu, Villa Park High School; Loc T. Van, Tustin High School; Joseph N. Sanberg, Servite High School, Anaheim; and Yining Chen, Si Ping Han and Michael D. Stephens, Esperanza High School, Anaheim.