Well done to Manatee Countyā€™s National Merit Scholars.
They are Benjamin Barr (Palmetto High), Kevin Chen (Braden River), Richard Lay (Manatee), Pearson Walters (Saint Stephenā€™s) and Sarah Weis (State College of Florida Collegiate School).
The quintet are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program for academically talented high school seniors vying for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million.
They made it through quite a rigorous process.
Barr, Chen, Lay, Walters and Weis were among more than 1.3 million juniors from nearly 20,000 high schools who entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT-National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
In addition, they had to submit a detailed scholarship application detailing their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, honors received and so forth.
They must also be endorsed and recommended by a school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the qualifying test.
More than 15,000 semifinalists will advance to the finalist level and Barr, Chen, Lay, Walters and Weis will learn whether they are among them in February.
Chen hopes to attend Princeton, Lay plans to attend Florida and both will major in chemical engineering. Walters is undecided on a college, but will study aerospace engineering. Weis has applied to several Florida colleges and Liberty, but is undecided on a major.
Ā· Lily Haddon is 7.
Ā· Salutes to new Palmetto Police Department OfficersĀ Timothy Downey Jr., Isazier Whitfield, Zachary Stackhouse and Jordan Caouette and to promoted officers Corporal Quinn Moriarty Ā and Sergeant Ben Schlabach.
Ā· Props to the Lakewood Ranch High boys golf team, who defended their Founders Cup championship at the Founders Club in Sarasota. Coached by Brian Ross, who was pinch-hitting for head coach Dave Frantz, the Mustangs defeated Riverview, Sarasota and Orlandoā€™s Circle Christian in nine-hole match play behind senior co-captain Jack Wessinger and junior Donny Plakyda.
The winning Mustangs included senior co-captains Brock Blackwell, junior Owen Gellatly and sophomores Alex Makarevich and Will Thomas.
Ā· Maryann Garcia is 39. Again.
Ā· So is Tiffany Leffert.
Ā· Lynn Pierce, too.
Ā· And Kathleen Powers.
Ā· Happy trails to Dr. Michael King after more than 30 years of service to our community. He was Blake Hospitalā€™s Doctor of the Year in 2016, served on its Board of Trustees for a decade, including chairman one year, and was recognized with the Top Choice Award by U.S. News & World Report for consistent five-star reviews.
Vinā€™s People runs Sundays. Email Vin Mannix at vinspeople@gmail.com. Or callĀ 941-962-5944.

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