Boeing

Eleven St. Louis-area students will receive scholarships from Boeing through the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The students, all sons and daughters of Boeing St. Louis employees, will each receive a scholarship of $1,500 a year for four years at their chosen college or university. Boeing awarded scholarships to 77 high school graduates nationwide, including students in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Students qualify to become National Merit scholars based on their academic records and test scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, or PSAT/NMSQT. Selections also are based on recommendations by school officials about students' extracurricular activities, interests and goals. About 1.2 million high school students in the United States take PSAT annually, and only 7,900 are designated as Merit Scholars.

The scholarship awardees were honored at a reception on July 18 in the company's James S. McDonnell Prologue Room.

The Boeing 2001 National Merit scholarship winners from the St. Louis area are:

• Angela Burger, Fort Zumwalt South High School. Ms. Burger, daughter of Frederick and Debbie Burger of St. Peters, plans to attend John Brown University for elementary education and biblical studies.
• Jeanette Cunningham, Mountain View High School, Mesa, Ariz.. Ms. Cunningham, daughter of Gene and Cynthia Cunningham of Ballwin, plans to attend the University of Notre Dame for international relations and foreign affairs.
• Vincent Foley, DeSmet Jesuit High School. Mr. Foley, son of Rafe and Therese Foley of Ferguson, plans to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia for computer engineering.
• Amy Freestone, Fort Zumwalt West High School. Ms. Freestone, daughter of William and Sherry Freestone of St. Peters, plans to attend Washington University for computer engineering and computer science.
• Heather Ryan, Fort Zumwalt South High School. Ms. Ryan, daughter of Edward and Lori Ryan of St. Peters, plans to attend Truman State University for Spanish and linguistics.
• Stephen Sebelski, Webster Groves High School. Mr. Sebelski, son of Mark and Nancy Sebelski of Webster Groves, plans to attend Loyola University in Chicago for English education.
• Brian Shea, St. Louis Priory High School. Mr. Shea, son of Michael and Angela Shea of St. Louis, plans to attend Loyola University in New Orleans and is undecided on an area of study.
• Emily Shih, Parkway West High School. Ms. Shih, son of Donald Shih and Lanny Chong of St. Louis, plans to attend Northwestern University for arts and sciences.
• William Michael Switzer, McCluer North High School. Mr. Switzer, son of William and Elizabeth Switzer of Florissant, plans to attend the University of Missouri-Rolla for electrical engineering.
• Justin Thompson, University City High School. Mr. Thompson, son of Todd and Linda Thompson of St. Louis, plans to attend Grinnell College and is undecided on an area of study.
• Ryan Williamson, St. Louis University High School. Mr. Williamson, son of John and Linda Williamson of Florissant, plans to attend Xavier University for classics and history.

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