There is reason to celebrate at Central High School in Angelina County.  It's wonderful to be able to report on positive news coming out of an area school, especially when it seems that all recent stories are about people getting sick and staffing shortages and school shutdowns.

According to a news release, several Central High School students were recently honored for their outstanding academic achievements. Isabel Contreras, Randy Stephens, and Stephen Cerda all received College Board National Recognition honors as a result of their National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test scores.

All three students earned National Rural and Small Town Recognition, while Contreras and Cerda also earned Hispanic Recognition. Because of his qualifying scores, Cerda is also receiving $24,000 in scholarships, with more scholarships pending.

In order to receive national recognition from the College Board, students must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and score in the top 10-percent (by state) on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (P-S-A-T) / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

According to Central High School College and Career Coordinator Susie Jones, this is the first time in school history that multiple students have received national recognition in the same year from the College Board due to their qualifying test scores. So, not only is a big congratulations due to these three students, but also to all the educators along the way that helped them to reach these goals.

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Contreras and Stephens are currently juniors at Central. Cerda will graduate this spring from CHS, and is planning to attend Texas A&M University.

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