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Twelve students from Prince George's County public and home schools are semi finalists for the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Alice Chang, Laura Jones, Andy Li, Marika Nell, Wesley Rian, Thomas Senecal, Blossom Tewlde, Ursula Tooley, Maia Werbos, and Jeffrey Wang are from Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Sophie Gorman and Teresa Gorman are home schooled from Bowie. These students will compete for 8,200 merit scholarships worth over $36 million.

In 2008 More than 1.5 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The highest scoring entrants make up the 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who represent 1 percent of U.S high school seniors. The number of semifinalists selected in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

In order to advance to the finalist level, semifinalists must fulfill these requirements specified by the NMSP release: to have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. Each semifinalist and a high school official must complete and submit an extensive scholarship application that includes an essay and information about the student's leadership and participation in community and school activities.

About 15,000 semifinalists are expected to become finalists and from this group the 2010 NMSP winners will be chosen. According to the NMSC winners will be selected based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and ending in July of 2010.

The National Merit scholarship Corp., created especially for the NMSP in 1955, is a non-profit organization that operates without government assistance and generates funds from approximately 500 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.

Ballot placement

for City Council candidates

Candidates' names will be listed in this order on the voting ballot on Nov. 3: Che Sayles, Judith Davis, Edward Putens, Leta Mach, Silke Pope, Rodney Roberts, Kelly Ivy, Emmett Jordan and Konrad Herling. On the 15 signs placed around the city, the candidates' names will be listed in this order: Rodney Roberts, Emmett Jordan, Kelly Ivy, Konrad Herling, Che Sayles, Silke Pope, Leta Mach, Judith Davis and Edward Putens.

Volunteer, donate to Pumpkin Walk and Carving Festival

The Greenbelt Pumpkin Walk and Carving Festival needs family sponsorships and volunteers to support the 2009 festival. The carving festival will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Roosevelt Center located on Crescent Road and Gardenway in Greenbelt. The trail walk will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 24, at Northway fields located at the intersection of Northway and Ridge Road.

This event holds a nearly 20-year history in Greenbelt and residents say it raises awareness for the local forest preserve in the city.

"The mission of the Greenbelt Pumpkin Walk and Carving Festival is to bring Greenbelters into the woods for a safe and incredible experience: walking at night, through a forest filled with glowing jack-o-lanterns that the town has carved," said organizer Allison Smith.

Donations to the festival will be used for, purchasing pumpkins for the town to carve and light up the forest, carving tools for the public on Carving Day, delivery of the pumpkins, candles, and live music at the Carving Party. To make a donation or volunteer, call Smith at 301-910-1669, e-mail PumpkinWalk@gmail.com, or visit www.greenbeltpumpkinwalk.com.

Berwyn Heights student enrolls at Earlham College

Ikumi Doucette, the daughter of Stefen Doucette of Berwyn Heights, has enrolled as a first-year student at Earlham College, a selective, liberal arts college in Richmond, Ind.

Earlham offers 40 majors in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences and is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III school.

Free emergency response classes in Landover Hills

The Prince George's County Department of Emergency Management will host emergency response training sessions starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday in Landover Hills.

Instructors will provide Community Emergency Response Team training, which teaches residents how to respond during disasters where emergency personnel are not immediately available.

The two all-day courses will address a variety of area including disaster psychology, fire suppression and search and rescue. Enrollment is free and trainees will receive CERT equipment and a backpack at the end of their training.

The sessions will be held at the county's Fire Services Building, located at 6820 Webster St. in Landover Hills. For more information, call 202-441-0392 or e-mail CERTpgmd@gmail.com.

County hosting resources

day for homeless

The Prince George's County "Homeless Resource Day" is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Prince George's Community College at 301 Largo Road in Largo.

Access to medical and dental services, on-site application for benefits for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, mental health assessments and counseling, substance abuse counseling, legal aid assistance, domestic violence counseling, employment assistance services, housing and credit counseling, free photo identification cards from Motor Vehicle Administration and free haircuts, among other things, will be offered.

County buses will pick up and drop off people at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Prince George's Plaza Metro stop in Hyattsville; the Addison Road Metro Stop at 100 Addison Road South in Capitol Heights; the Branch Avenue Metro stop at 4704 Old Soper Road in Suitland; and at the Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services Headquarters at 311 Laurel Ave. in Laurel.

All Shades of Pink to hold gatherings for cancer patients

All Shades of Pink, a breast cancer awareness group, will be holding comfort blanket gatherings at Atlanta Bread located in Beltway Plaza at 5506 Cherrywood Lane. The gatherings will be held from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday October 10 and 17. The purpose of the comfort blanket gathering is to crochet blankets for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients at the ASOP partner hospitals.

ASOP is a non-profit organization founded in Glenn Dale in 2007. According to their website their mission is to assist women (and their families) diagnosed with breast cancer and to perform acts of kindness to as many breast cancer families as they can reach.

To volunteer or find out more information about ASOP call the office at 301-356-4688, e-mail asop@allshadesofpink.org, or visit www.allshadesofpink.org.