MIHS seniors Amelia Bernson and Madison Sieckhaus Win Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship Awards

Madison Sieckhaus (left) and Amelia Bernson (right) in front of the MIHS Awards Gallery at the high school.

Mercer Island, WA, April 22, 2026 – Mercer Island High School principal Nick Wold announced today seniors Amelia Bernson and Madison Sieckhaus have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship Awards from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NSMC).

Bernson and Sieckhaus are two of 18 winners of this award in Washington state and two of approximately 700 winners in the United States.

Bernson, who is looking at pursuing mechanical engineering in college, received the National Merit Boeing Scholarship. The Boeing Company supports Merit Scholarship awards annually for children of employees. The Merit Scholarship awards are a part of the Boeing Company's comprehensive aid to education program.

Sieckhaus, who is looking at pursuing a professional career in ballet, received the National Merit National Distillers Distributors Foundation Scholarship. National Distillers Distributors Foundation established this endowed scholarship program in 2008. Earnings from the endowed funds annually provide awards to Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Winners were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $10,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

Funding for these National Merit Scholarships is provided by corporate organizations that represent nearly all sectors of American industry. Sponsors from the business community have underwritten awards offered in all 71 competitions, expending or committing over $892 million to support the intellectual development of the nation’s scholastically talented youth. 

This is the first announcement of National Merit Scholars in 2026 by the NMSC, which will also name recipients of National Merit^® $2500 Scholarships on May 13, and winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on June 3 and July 13. Several other MIHS seniors could receive these scholarship awards.