WAIMEA — Hawaii Preparatory Academy seniors Sidney Vermeulen and Noa Walker are the recipients of the Hiatt College Scholarships for Community Service and Academic Creativity and Initiative. HPA parents Jerry and Mahilani Hiatt were on hand for the presentation at an Upper School assembly on Feb. 27.
Vermeulen received the Community Service Award and a $1,000 scholarship for embodying the spirit of servant leadership. She intentionally looks for ways to use her education to help her community. Whether it’s working as a teaching assistant in Waimea Middle School’s STEM program, teaching English to children in Vietnam, helping with reforestation initiatives on the slopes of Mauna Kea, or volunteering as a teen leader for the Kohala Watershed Partnership, Vermeulen humbly and joyfully shares her knowledge and time with others.
Walker received the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award and a $1,000 scholarship for his creative endeavors, which have included songwriting, attempting to write a book in the month of November to participate in the National Novel Month Challenge, and creating a pilot episode for his own TV show — an ambitious project that included creating a character list, choosing a cast of actors and composing the theme song. Walker is daring, engaged, unique, intellectually courageous and inspires others in the classroom.
The Hiatt College Scholarships were established in 2004, when Jerry and Mahilani Kellett Hiatt established the Mahilani Kellett Hiatt Endowment Fund. The Service Award recognizes a student who has demonstrated the greatest contribution to community service, while the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award recognizes a student for scholarly work above and beyond the regular academic curriculum.
Award recipients are selected based on nominations from faculty members. The nominees then are reviewed by an independent school committee.