Local high schools will perform holiday songs at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 760 S.E. Maynard Road, Cary throughout the month of December:

• Athens Drive High School Chorus from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9

• Holly Springs High School Chorus at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12

• Cary High School Orchestra at noon and 1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14

• Cary High School Concert Chorus at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14.

American Red Cross seeks students for leadership and scholarship program

Triangle-area high school students can now sign up for the American Red Cross 2013 High School Heroes philanthropic leadership and scholarship program. From January through March, students will compete for scholarships by raising money and awareness for the Red Cross Triangle Chapter.

The top three fundraisers will earn scholarships of $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. Four other outstanding fundraisers will earn $500 scholarships.

Completed applications are due by Friday, Dec. 7, and should be returned to the local Wake County Red Cross coordinator, Mira Batchelor at 919-277-2802 or mira.batchelor@redcross.org.

Applications can be picked up from high school guidance counselors or downloaded online at www.TriangleRedCross.org.

Green Hope hosts Holiday Shoppe

The Occupational Course of Study Department and the PTSA at Green Hope High School will hold its annual Holiday Shoppe on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Donations are currently being collected. Donations can be placed in the OCS drop box in the main office until Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Volunteers are also needed to assist students with choosing items and wrapping. To sign up, visit www.SignUpGenius.com/go/8050C4CAEAB2F4-ocsholiday.

Athens Drive High School musicians join local youth band and orchestra

Athens Drive High School students Matthew Baker (freshman, tuba), Rachel Knierim (senior, french horn), Maddie Ligon (junior, french horn) and Matt Wakeford (freshman, trumpet) have earned positions with the 2012-2013 Triangle Brass Band’s youth bands. Baker, Knierim and Wakeford will be performing with the Triangle Youth Brass Band. Ligon will be performing as part of the Triangle Youth Brass Ensemble. Their first concert will be Friday, Dec. 14, at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh. They will also perform Feb. 16, March 24 and May 25.

Corinne Crowley (senior, bassoon) and Rachel Knierim (senior, french horn) have earned positions in the North Carolina Symphony Youth Sinfonietta chamber orchestra. The orchestra will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, at the Cary Arts Center and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Peace University in Raleigh.

National Merit Scholarship program names semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship program has named its semifinalists for the 2013 competition.

The high school seniors were chosen as semifinalists on the basis of their scores on the 2011 PSAT. They can go on to compete for National Merit Scholarships next spring that together are worth more than $32 million.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed by officials from his or her high school, earn SAT scores that are on par with his or her PSAT performance and submit an application that includes an essay and list of leadership and community activities.

Here are the National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from southwest Wake County:

APEX

APEX HIGH SCHOOL: Caroline B. Broadwell, Clayton M. Connors, Daniel Ghan, Kate E. Hobble, Eric J. Luke, Kyle A. Malone, Siddharth Shankar, Sophia H. Wang, Neil Wathore

HOMESCHOOL: Rachel Freedman, Luke R. Harvey

CARY

CARY ACADEMY: Nicole B. Ackman, Adrienne L. Bell-Koch, Ethan A. Coeytaux, Joseph A. Cornett, David M. Maydew, Anna E. Mukamal, Daniel H. Orol, Sarah N. Thalheimer, Orlin O. Velev

CARY HIGH SCHOOL: Joshua D. Horowitz, Anupama Warrier, Olivia A. Wood

GREEN HOPE HIGH SCHOOL: Chang Jun Kim, Meaghan L. Nazareth, Shivam P. Patel, Caroline E. Reilly, Nisha Saxena, Aaron Wan, Jessica Wan, Allyson Weglar, Kira A. Wegner-Clemens, Christine T. Wei, Mark S. Wickelgren, Kevin K. Xiao, Jenny Xu

HOMESCHOOL: Christopher W. Bollinger, Julia K. LaFond

PANTHER CREEK HIGH SCHOOL: Sameer R. Kak, Kenneth K. Lee, Aishwarya Nag, Sagar S. Patel, Shiven Srivastava, Fariha Syed

RALEIGH

ATHENS DRIVE HIGH SCHOOL: Maryam Ahmed, Rita M. Meganck, John A. Nance