Nathaniel Neiser, a junior at Belton New Tech @Waskow, earned national academic honors recently from College Board for top performance on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). 

Neiser is among the top 2.5 percent of test takers who identified as one or more of the following: African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Indigenous or attend school in a rural area or are from a small town.

To qualify for the recognition, Neiser had to achieve a minimum PSAT score and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Neiser, the son of Luke and Amber Neiser, received the Indigenous Recognition Award. He is a section leader for the Marching 100 at Belton High School and serves as an assistant senior patrol leader for his Boy Scout troop. After graduating, Neiser plans to study music.

“It’s always great to see our Belton ISD students honored for their hard work and dedication to learning,” Superintendent Matt Smith said. “We applaud this achievement and all that this award represents.”

Neiser joins nine other Belton ISD students who received College Board recognitions in the fall — Rhiannon Gaddis, Jayden Guajardo, Matthew Herrera, Audriana Martinez, Josue Martinez, Diego Ramos and Dalilah Zuniga (National Hispanic Recognition Awards); and Isaiah Devasure and Hayden Presley (National Indigenous Recognition Awards).

The College Board recognition program aims to create pathways to college for students from underrepresented communities by awarding them academic honors and connecting them with universities across the country.