When Hickman High School senior Drew Johnson got the letter notifying him that he had won a 2006 National Achievement Scholarship, he opened it, read it, then walked away. Later, his family discovered it and asked him, “Were you going to tell us?”
His reply: “Oh, that.”
Johnson is the only Columbia student to win a National Achievement Scholarship. Established in 1964, the privately financed academic competition honors scholastically talented black American youths each year. The program is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Johnson’s $2,500 award is sponsored by the New York Times Co. Foundation.
Patti Johnson said her son has always been a hard worker and an excellent student.
“It figures he would be recognized this way,” she said.
At Hickman, Johnson was president of the senior class and the Spanish Honor Society; vice president of the Health Sciences Club and the Key Club, a Kiwanis-based organization; and a member of Mu Alpha Theta, the math honor society.
He plans to study math at MU beginning this fall.