Brian PattonAbilene High School senior Brian Patton has been named a Commended Student in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Patton is among about 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation who are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although Commended Students will not continue in the 2019 competition for National Merit scholarships, they placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the competition by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

In September, two Abilene ISD students – Faith Fang of the Academy of Technology, Engineering, Math & Science and Lauren Hampton of Abilene High – were named National Merit Semifinalists and are in the process of qualifying for Finalist standing.

Patton, currently the second ranked student in the 2019 graduating class, has been a member of the Eagle varsity basketball team for three years and was senior editor of poetry for the 2018 Gallimaufry Literary and Art Journal. He plans to study English, philosophy and psychology and has narrowed his choice of schools to Stanford University, the University of Texas and Rice University. He is the son of Amy and Charles Patton.