Two Hawaii students were among the 1,000 high school seniors nationwide awarded corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships for 2018.
The awards were financed by 200 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations. Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
The Hawaii winners are:
>> Lily M. Perry of ‘Iolani School. She plans to study computer science, and her scholarship was funded by Macy’s Inc. Macy’s supports scholarships for children of employees at its namesake department store and Bloomingdale’s.
>> Gracyn Y. Buenconsejo of Punahou School. She plans to study medical research, and her scholarship was funded by Leidos Inc., a global science and technology solutions company in the fields of defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil and health.
Over 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools across the country entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. In September about 16,000 semifinalists were chosen based on numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of national total of graduating high school seniors. About 15,000 became finalists. By the conclusion of the 2018 competition, that number had been whittled down to 7,500, and the winners were those finalists judged to have the strongest combination of academic achievement, extracurricular accomplishments and potential for success in college.
Soroptimist clubs honor women, girls
Community leaders, teens and women aspiring to fulfill their educational goals were recently recognized by Oahu’s three Soroptimist International clubs: Honolulu, Central Oahu and Waikiki Foundation Inc.
Receiving the Ruby Award for Women Helping Women for their work to improve the lives of women and girls through their profession and volunteer work were Kim Cook, executive director of U.S. Vets, who is also an advocate for providing quality holistic wellness treatment; educator Christina Hoe, founder of Wild Kids Hawaii and Wild Kids Montana, which draw from experiences in her own life; and Catherine Betts, past executive director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, who spearheaded progressive legislation for women.
To support women who provide the primary source of financial means for their families, Live Your Dream educational grants were given to nine women: Caroline Canavan, Kieu Le, Charmaine Lenchanko, Anne Glushenko, Debbey Baricuatro, Raphaela Che, Jayleen Barino, Robin Raquedan-Kawaa and Patricia De Luna.
Honoring young volunteers, the Violet Richardson Award was given to Anna Dao of Radford High School, Geetika Padwardhan of Hanalani School, Abigail Austria of Moanalua High School and Mahealani Sims-Tulba of Sacred Hearts Academy.
The total amount of the awards from the three clubs was $42,500.
