Five AFS seniors have been named Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, which recognizes scholastic excellence. The five are Makarios Chung, David Goulden Naitove, Jacob Jacobson, Eli Russell and Lucy Silbaugh. All are eligible to be considered for National Merit Scholarships, which will be awarded  to about 7,400 students nationwide.

The scholarship awards will be based on a finalist’s academic, leadership and activities record, the school’s curricula and grading system, test scores, written recommendations and personal essay.

Earlier in the year, the five were selected as semifinalists in the program. At the same time, five other seniors received letters of commendation. They are Joshua Diamond, Corey Goulden Naitove, Anne Silbaugh, Loghan Thain and Daniella Nichinson.

The 10 seniors won recognition for achieving top scores on an exam taken nationwide by 1.5 million high school students. The 10 scholars are 13 percent of the Class of 2016 at AFS, while 3.3 percent of students nationwide who took the test qualified for the honors.