Five Union Bands Seniors named National Merit Finalists

Pictured Band Students among 12 Union H.S. National Merit Finalists: Abigail Ren (far left), Cadence ‘Luke’ Garcia (second from left), Hannah Fuller (third from right), John ‘Evan’ Brown (second from right), & Courtney Bloom (far right).

Pictured Band Students among 12 Union H.S. National Merit Finalists: Abigail Ren (far left), Cadence ‘Luke’ Garcia (second from left), Hannah Fuller (third from right), John ‘Evan’ Brown (second from right), & Courtney Bloom (far right).

Twelve Union High School Seniors have been named 2020-2021 National Merit Finalists, among them are five Union Bands students! Let’s congratulate:

  • Courtney Bloom, daughter of Dan and Rebecca Bloom of Tulsa;

  • John Brown, son of John and Kellye Brown of Broken Arrow;

  • Hannah Fuller, daughter of Darrell and Sharon Fuller of Tulsa;

  • Cadence Garcia, daughter of Kelly Garcia Kilmer and William Kilmer of Broken Arrow;

  • Abigail Ren, daughter of Xiaoming Ren and Hua Tang of Broken Arrow;


These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered this spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, these students, who were named semifinalists last September, had to fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was

established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business

organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s

scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

To participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a student must:

  • Be enrolled full time as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to enter college no later than the fall following completion of high school;

  • Be a citizen of the United States or, if not now a citizen, a permanent U.S. resident (or an applicant for permanent residency) in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen; and

  • Take the PSAT/NMSQT ® in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern.