Updated at 7:57 p.m., Friday, September 21, 2007
Hawaii Prep 'stunned' by arrest of stellar graduate
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Star Anna Simpson, a sophomore at MIT in Boston, was surrounded by law enforcement officers carrying submachine guns this morning after she walked out of Logan allegedly holding Play-Doh and wearing a computer circuit board that had flashing lights and wiring.
"We were all very shocked because she was such an exemplary student," Hawai'i Prep spokeswoman Phyllis Kanekuni said today after Simpson's arraignment in East Boston Municipal Court. "We hope the situation can be resolved quickly so she can proceed with her very bright future."
Simpson was born in March 1988 and entered Hawai'i Prep as a seventh grader. She graduated with honors in 2006.
"She was an exemplary student and swimmer," Kanekuni said, "incredibly hard working, enthusiastic about learning and very humble and courteous."
Hawai'i Prep is spread across two campuses in the Big Island town of Waimea. It has 590 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade and 350 in high school.
Simpson was captain of the robotics team, captain of the swim team and also played water polo, Kanekuni said. She holds the school records for the 50- and 100-meter swims and medaled at the Hawai'i state swim championships.
Simpson also founded the school's chess club as a freshman and was inducted into Hawai'i Prep's Cum Laude academic society in her junior year, Kanekuni said.
In 2006, Simpson was one of 31 Hawai'i student-athletes to win an Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation scholarship. The students had to have a minimum 3.3 grade point average and demonstrate a need for financial aid.
On Simpson's personal Web site at MIT, she says she is studying computers and enjoys tinkering in a student-run machine shop.
"In a sentence, I'm an inventor, artist, engineer, and student, I love to build things and I love crazy ideas," the Web site says.
According to the MIT Web site, Simpson is from Kihei and is a sprinter on the school's swim team. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, however, listed a Lahaina post office box for Simpson but had no Boston address.
Duke Gonzales, spokesman for the Honolulu Postal Service, said the post office box listed by Suffolk County officials is located at the downtown Lahaina post office on Papalaua Street — one of two post offices in Lahaina.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.
