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Seven MIHS juniors complete Washington Aerospace Scholars curriculum

Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2026

From left to right at the top are Mercer Island High School students Han Sun, Alex Cheney, Arrah Vandehaar-Johnsen, Keira Weller and Kai Bergman. Bottom from left to right are Bennett Novak and Dash Dahlberg. Photo courtesy of the Mercer Island School District

From left to right at the top are Mercer Island High School students Han Sun, Alex Cheney, Arrah Vandehaar-Johnsen, Keira Weller and Kai Bergman. Bottom from left to right are Bennett Novak and Dash Dahlberg. Photo courtesy of the Mercer Island School District

Special to the Reporter

Seven Mercer Island High School (MIHS) juniors recently completed the five-month Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) online curriculum. These seven students are: Kai Bergman, Alex Cheney, Dash Dahlberg, Bennett Novak, Han Sun, Arrah Vandehaar-Johnsen and Keira Weller.

Based on their outstanding participation in the online course, Novak, Cheney and Vandehaar-Johnsen were invited to participate in the competitive WAS Summer Residency.

WAS is designed to connect high school juniors with educational and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through independent learning, hands-on interaction, professional guidance and site-based tours. Since 2006, more than 2,400 students have successfully completed the program and 79% have since reported being in a STEM career pathway.

In November 2025, along with 300 others, these MIHS students began a five-month course consisting of nine NASA and University of Washington designed lessons. While successful completion of the online course curriculum can earn the students five University of Washington credits in aeronautics and astronautics, the ultimate prize is securing a spot in the summer residency.

This summer, scholars will be presenting their design for a human mission to Mars. In each session, four student teams will cooperate to plan a human mission to Mars with support from professional engineers/scientists, university students and certificated educators. Additionally, participants receive briefings from aerospace professionals, tour engineering facilities and compete in hands-on engineering challenges.

Student and teacher applications for the 2026-27 program year will be available starting in fall of 2026. Interest forms are available at https://www.museumofflight.org/was. The online course will begin in November and participants must be high school juniors and Washington state residents. There is no cost for participation in WAS phase one.

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