LAUREN BROWN Two Briarwood Academy seniors with Lincolnton connections have been honored by the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Foundation for outstanding academic excellence.

Briarwood senior Amy McGee and Lauren Brown, a Briarwood participant in the joint enrollment program for high school seniors at Georgia State College and University in Milledgeville, represent less than one percent of U. S. high school seniors. They are among 16,000 National Merit semi-finalists named nationwide from the more than 1.3 million US high school students qualifying. Qualifying is based on test scores made on the PSAT/NMSQT (PreScholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.) The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

AMY MCGEE To become finalists, Miss McGee and Miss Brown must complete high school with an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier qualifying test performance. The semifinalist must also submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s self-descriptive essay and information about the Semifinalist’s participation and leadership in school and community activities.

In all, approximately 15,000 semifinalists will become finalists and eligible for the approximately 8250 National Merit based scholarship awards, which will be presented for 2006. Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July.

Miss McGee, the daughter of Roy and Karen McGee and the late Mr. and Mrs. George McGee, all of Lincolnton, and the granddaughter of DeLeon and Mary Denard of Washington, has attended Briarwood since kindergarten.

Amy is the recipient of numerous academic honors. She has been recognized for outstanding academic achievement by the University of Georgia, Presbyterian College, Wofford College, and Erskine College. She is a member of the National Honor Society and served as a Junior Usher for last year’s graduating class.

Amy has served as class president since the ninth grade.

She is an active student at Briarwood, participating in cheerleading, twirling and chorus.

A Captain of this year’s football and basketball cheerleading squad, she has been selected as a UCA All Star cheerleader. She is a also a member of the cheerleading competition team and was a member of last year’s competition cheerleading team, which placed first in the Heart of Georgia competition.

Amy, who began twirling in kindergarten, is a co-captain of this year’s squad.

She participated in the Briarwood Chorus from the ninth through the eleventh grades as a member of the cast of three musicals and one oneact play.

This year she is a co-editor of the annual, The Buccaneer.

Amy attends Greenwood Baptist Church of Lincoln County.

Miss Brown, who began attending Briarwood in the ninth grade and will graduate with her class this spring, is the daughter of Drs. Ed and Debbie Pinson of Thomson and the granddaughter of Larry and Ann Pinson of Double Branches. She is currently attending Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville as a participant in the joint enrollment program for high school seniors. She was the top entering freshman at GC&SU this past August.

At Briarwood, Lauren served last year’s graduating class as Junior Marshall. She played softball and basketball for the Lady Bucs and was also a member of the annual staff.

She is a two-time GISA AA state champion in Girls Extemporaneous Speaking.

Although attending GC&SU, Lauren is still serving on the WatsonBrown Foundation Junior Board and is serving as the president of the Board. She is also a Watson-Brown Merit Scholar.

At GC&SU, she was selected to serve the school as a Student Ambassador. She is also a member of the College Republicans, the Women in Chemistry Alliance, and the Eta Sigma Alpha Honor Society. She is a staff photographer for the GC&SU yearbook, The Colonnade.

She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Thomson.