Hattiesburg High School Senior Paul Green has been named a National Merit Finalist! Over 1.5 million students participated in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and of those approximately 15,000 (the top ONE PERCENT) were
Hattiesburg Public Schools
announced as Finalists by officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (nmsc). These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 million, that will be offered this spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, students must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. Approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
To become a Finalist, a student 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. The student and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s essay and information about the student’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.
- Paul has performed in the HPSD’s Orchestra since fifth grade where he has served as Concertmaster.
- For the past year, Paul has served as Concertmaster and soloist for the Southern Mississippi Youth Orchestra.
- As a member of the HHS Speech and Debate team, he has earned several distinguished awards to include:
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- State Champion- Lincoln-Douglas Debater
- National Catholic Forensic League- double-octafinalist in L-D Debate
- State finalist in Original Orating
- He has given back to his community through volunteer work with the Association for the Rights of Citizens with Disabilities.
- Paul has been active in the theatre department at HHS as the Lighting Designer, Master Electrician, Light Board and Spotlight Operator, as well as playing the lead role in “The Good Doctor”.
- He is an Assistant Senior Patrol Leader in the Boy Scouts of American. He is currently a Life Scout working on Eagle Scout rank.
- Recipient of the Civitan Citizenship Award in grade 12
- As a Junior, he was selected as Exchange Youth of the Month
- Paul has received the Highest GPA Award in grades 8-11 and presently maintains the highest GPA in his class of 261 seniors at HHS.
- He is leaning toward engineering as his major, but has an interest in physics and music as well.
- His first choice for college is Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.