NORTH HAWAII — Eight deserving high school seniors took their first important step towards future goals with a scholarship provided by Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union to a two- or four-year institute of higher learning for the coming school year. The graduates were selected from a field of applicants from 15 high schools on the Big Island.
Seven of the scholarships are named after a volunteer or a manager who made significant contributions to Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union. The $18,500 was awarded among the eight recipients.
In North Hawaii, Honu Tea O Te Rai Akau-Nguyen of Hawaii Preparatory Academy received The Peter T. Hirata Scholarship. She plans to pursue a career as a registered nurse. The Frank Ishii Scholarship was presented to Lauren Villafuerte of Honokaa High School who will be pursuing a career in the bio-engineering/bio-medical engineering field. Kohala High School student Yuki Zbytovsky won The Student Credit Union Scholarship and plans to pursue a business career in marketing and management.
The John Y. Iwane Scholarship was presented to Luigi Remo, a graduate of Kealakehe High School, who plans to pursue a career in electrical engineering. The Albert Akana Scholarship was received by Abcde Matias of Waiakea High School for a career in psychology. The Katsumasa Tomita Scholarship was awarded to Jonathan Uhlmann of St. Joseph Junior/High School who seeks a career in computer science. The Mitsugi Inaba Scholarship was given to Daylen Calicdan of Kamehameha Schools Hawaii for studies in art, architecture and design. Brianna Halliwell of Konawaena High School received The Michael Asam Scholarship for a career as a pharmacist.
Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union is a not-for‐profit credit union wholly owned by its member/owners and the financial institution has branches in Honokaa, Kailua-Kona, Kaloko, Kealakekua and Kohala. It sponsors student credit unions at Kealakehe, Kohala and Konawaena high schools, Children’s Savings Projects at elementary schools from Paauilo to Hookena and supports numerous Big Island programs and events.