18 Merit Scholars at County Schools

County high school students won 18 of the 117 National Merit Scholarships awarded in California in the first round of the prestigious 1988 awards.

The Anaheim Union High School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District and Fullerton Joint Union High School District each had three students among the 18 scholarship winners. Catholic Servite High in Anaheim had two first-round winners.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a nonprofit organization based in Evanston, Ill., Wednesday announced the names of the first-round winners. Each year the National Merit Scholars are announced in three staggered rounds.

The first round consists of winners of scholarships sponsored by corporations. These scholarships provide yearly stipends of $500 to $8,000.

On April 21, the winners of National Merit $2,000 scholarships will be announced. The final round, consisting of the winners of scholarships of varying amounts sponsored by individual colleges, will be announced May 5.

Each year the National Merit Scholarship Corp. stresses that no one should make “comparisons and judgments of the educational quality of schools” based on students who win National Merit Scholarships.

“It is the individual who is recognized for exceptional performance in the competition,” said a press release Wednesday from the sponsoring organization. “While schools and families deserve credit for their role in developing students’ abilities, merit scholars owe their attainments to a combination of many factors and their experiences both within and outside the school.”

The Orange County first-round winners are:

ANAHEIM UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT--Rocio R. Aliaga, Anaheim, Magnolia High; Stephanie A. Baker, Anaheim, Loara High, and Maxim Lainer, La Palma, John F. Kennedy High.

HUNTINGTON BEACH UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT--Alice P. Wu, Fountain Valley, Fountain Valley High; Ben A. Fulton, Huntington Beach, Marina High, and Noah J. Stept, Huntington Beach, Edison High.

FULLERTON JOINT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT-- Kirsten L. Gaarder, Fullerton, Sunny Hills High; Laura C. Sauers, Fullerton, Troy High, and Douglas A. Wade, Whittier, La Habra High.

SERVITE HIGH SCHOOL--Ian A. Barkley, Anaheim, and Joseph V. Campolongo, Fullerton.

BREA-OLINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Rose M. Mastracci, Brea, Brea-Olinda High.

ORANGE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Jason A. Curtis, Anaheim, Canyon High.

NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Michael T. Horansky, Costa Mesa, Estancia High.

IRVINE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Monica P. Garcia, Irvine, Irvine High.

CAPISTRANO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Allan Chen, Laguna Niguel, Dana Hills High.

PLACENTIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Timothy J. Davis, Placentia, El Dorado High.

TUSTIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT--Jeffrey T. Giesea, Santa Ana, Foothill High.