Island high-schoolers named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

September 16, 2025 3:30 pm
* First row (left to right): Mercer Island High School’s Emma Shi, Xintong Zhao, Amelia Bernson, Julia Shang and Sydney Parcel. Second row (left to right): Elsa Zepeda Juarez, Madison Sieckhaus, Derek Hsi and Gavrilo Odievich. Third row (left to right): Steffi Kim, Adithya Raj, Aiden Chen and Jett Jones. Photo courtesy of Mercer Island School District * Northwest Yeshiva High School’s Elizabeth Gabbay. Photo courtesy of Northwest Yeshiva High School
* First row (left to right): Mercer Island High School’s Emma Shi, Xintong Zhao, Amelia Bernson, Julia Shang and Sydney Parcel. Second row (left to right): Elsa Zepeda Juarez, Madison Sieckhaus, Derek Hsi and Gavrilo Odievich. Third row (left to right): Steffi Kim, Adithya Raj, Aiden Chen and Jett Jones. Photo courtesy of Mercer Island School District * Northwest Yeshiva High School’s Elizabeth Gabbay. Photo courtesy of Northwest Yeshiva High School

Thirteen Mercer Island High School (MIHS) seniors and one Northwest Yeshiva High School (NYHS) senior were named 2026 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Sept. 10.

MIHS students are: Amelia Bernson, Aiden Chen, Derek Hsi, Jett Jones, Steffi Kim, Gavrilo Odievich, Sydney Parcel, Adithya Raj, Julia Shang, Emma Shi, Madison Sieckhaus, Elsa Zepeda Juarez and Xintong Zhao.

From NYHS, there’s Elizabeth Gabbay, who was recognized last year as the NYHS Master Scholar in Science while excelling in the most rigorous courses of both Judaic and general studies.

In 2025, nine MIHS seniors were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, and in 2024, 12 MIHS seniors achieved this honor.

Each year, more than 1.3 million high school students nationally enter the National Merit Scholarship competition by taking the PSAT/NM-SQT. Of these, approximately 50,000 are recognized as high scoring students, and about 16,000 (about 1%) are named semifinalists. According to the corporation, the National Merit Program honors individual students who show academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.