Twelve Forsyth County high school students, including five each from Lambert and South Forsyth, have been named 2011 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

Those from Lambert include: Deagyu Kim, James Leath, Christopher Miles, Kevin Noh and Kyle Zimmerman.

The South students are: Junghyun Kim, Maksym G. Kolenov, Tyler M. McGee, Vinay Srinvasan and Taylor M. Tai.

Two other public high school students, Ethan Smith of Forsyth Central and Paul R. Enger of West Forsyth, also earned semifinalist status.

"Recognizing outstanding achievement is one of the greatest highlights our district has to participate in," said Superintendent Buster Evans. "… We congratulate them, their families and teachers."

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. It draws about 1.5 million applicants each year.

In February, the some 15,000 semifinalists will be notified if they have advanced to finalist standing to vie for some 8,300 scholarships worth more than $34 million.