Education briefs
Advertiser Staff
Nine principals are award finalists
Nine public school principals have been named as finalists for a $25,000 education award from the Island Insurance Foundation.
Each of the finalists received $500 and a plaque.
The award, for excellence in school leadership, will be announced at the Public Schools Foundation dinner May 25. The winning principal will receive $10,000 and will be able use $15,000 for a school project of their choice.
The finalists are Joan Aluag, principal of Webling Elementary School; Gail Awakuni, Campbell High School; Darrel Galera, Moanalua High School; Vivian Hee, Jefferson Elementary School; Eileen Hirota, 'Ewa Beach Elementary School; Roger Kim, Mililani Middle School; Michael Nakano, Lahainaluna High School; Kenneth Nomura, Lihikai Elementary School; and Patricia Pedersen, Waipahu High School.
Foundation offers 16 scholarships
The Ke Ali'i Foundation has 16 college scholarships ranging from $400 to $7,500 available for the upcoming school year.
The foundation, a support organization for Kamehameha Schools, gives preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law. Some scholarships are open to only Kamehameha graduates, while others are open to those from other schools.
Scholarship applications must be received at the foundation's office by May 14.
For more information, visit www.pauahi.org or call 534-3966.
Youths win essay contest
The Hawai'i Center for the Book has selected three local winners for the national Letters About Literature essay contest and will make an awards presentation at 11 a.m. April 17 in the Hawai'i State Library courtyard.
The winners are Hoala School fourth-grader Hanna Nowicki, Kahuku High & Elementary School seventh-grader Lisa Keilani Akoi, and Maryknoll School 11th-grader Ryan M. Matsumoto.
Nowicki wrote an essay on "Sadako and the Thousand Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr; Akoi's essay was on "Hula Girl" by Gael Mustapha; and Matsumoto's essay was about "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston.
Each will receive a bookstore gift certificate plus a $50 gift card from Target Stores.
This was the first year that Hawai'i participated in the program. The three are now eligible for national competition.
Program offers college advice
Fifty low-income high school juniors could get some extra help preparing for college through a program from College Connections Hawai'i, a nonprofit tutoring group.
Students can receive one-on-one advice on how to get ready for the college admission process. Eligible students must have at least a 3.0 grade-point average and the ability and desire to attend a four-year college. Students must be from low-income families or be the first generation of their family to go to college.
The program is being sponsored by a $30,000 grant from the Gift Foundation and $20,000 from the Hau'oli Mau Loa Foundation.
More information is available at www.collegeconnections.org. The application deadline is April 30.
