Four Belton High School seniors have a lot to be proud of, having been nationally recognized for their outstanding performances on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) during their junior year.

Mitchell Bonner, Benjamin Broom, and Zane Williams were named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Their scores on the PSAT placed them in the top 1% among the more than 1.5 million students who took the test last fall. These fine young scholars will now submit essays, recommendations, and additional test scores for the next step in the competition.

Gautam Ghamande ranked in the top 5% in the nation for scores on the PSAT, and has been named a National Merit Commended Scholar for 2020. He's among roughly 34,000 students selected as commended out of 1.5 million who took last fall's test.

Karen Rudolph with BISD sent us information about these students, and it looks as if they're all destined for greatness.

Mitchell Bonner is the son of Drs. David and Nancy Bonner. Mitchell is an Eagle Scout, a member of the varsity tennis team and vice president of the National Honor Society. He serves on the youth council at Foundation United Methodist Church, where he hosted a church web show during the pandemic. After graduating, Mitchell plans to attend either Texas A&M University or the University of Texas to major in mechanical engineering.

Benjamin Broom is the son of Gerald and Tanja Broom. He is a Superintendent’s Scholar and member of the National Honor Society as well as a four-year member of the golf team. Benjamin has participated in the Texas Bioscience Institute’s Middle College program through Temple College and served as a college math tutor through the program’s Summer Math Institute. After graduating, he hopes to attend either Rice University or the University of Texas and major in neuroscience.

Zane Williams is the son of Paul and Joanna Williams. Zane is a member of the National Honor Society and has participated in the Marching 100 all four years of high school. He also competed in UIL Academics. Zane plans to attend either the University of Texas or Rice University and double major in physics and computer science.

Gautam Ghamande is the son of Neelam Konnur and Shekhar Ghamande. He serves as president of Student 2 Student, treasurer for the Key Club and was junior class secretary. Gautam also participates in the National Honor Society, Youth Advisory Commision, Prom Committee, varsity soccer and UIL Academics. Guatam plans to attend the University of Texas as a biology major with the intention of pursuing medical school.

The current school year presents challenges unlike anything students in the U.S. have faced in nearly a century. Each and every student in Central Texas deserves our support right now, as do their teachers. We wish you all the very best, and know you'll find success as you continue to hurdle the obstacles.

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