More School Briefs 2-8

Thorbecke wins national award

Mariko Thorbecke, a senior at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, has received the 2012 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. The award, sponsored by Bank of America and the National Center for Women and Information Technology, recognizes young high school women for their computing-related achievements and interests as part of an effort to encourage more young women to choose careers in technology.

Thorbecke will receive $500 cash; a laptop computer, provided by Bank of America; a trip, including airfare for nonlocal winners, some meals and lodging, all provided by Bank of America, for her and an accompanying parent or legal guardian, to attend the Bank of America Technology Showcase and Awards Ceremony on March 10 in Charlotte, N.C.; and an engraved award for both the student and the student’s school.

Parker School hosts debate tournament

On Jan. 13 and 14, 14 schools from all over Hawaii participated in the Neighbor Island Speech and Debate Qualifying Tournament at Parker School in Waimea.

Kealakehe High School and Christian Liberty Academy were the other two Big Island schools in attendance, and Christian Liberty took first place in the Championship Lincoln Douglas category.

Five Parker School students qualified for the state championships: Paul Gregg, who placed third in Championship Lincoln Douglas, Lysha Matsunobu, third in Novice Lincoln Douglas; Marie Jobes, fourth in Novice Lincoln Douglas; Emily Skladzien, first in Beginning Public Forum; and Elliot Jacobsen, also first in Beginning Public Forum.

The next speech and debate tournament will take place on Feb. 17 and 18 at Iolani School in Honolulu.

For more information, visit parkerschool.net.

AlohaCare awards 13 scholarships

AlohaCare has awarded $30,000 for its annual AlohaCare Believes in Me Scholarship program. This year’s program awarded 13 Hawaii Island residents with funding to attend the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Community College. Since the scholarship program was launched in 2003, AlohaCare has awarded nearly 200 students with more than $250,000. Scholarships range from $750 to $2,000, are based on the individual needs of each student and the campus they attend.

In order to qualify for AlohaCare’s scholarship award, students have to a Hawaii resident, be admitted to any campus within the University of Hawaii system, enrolled as a full or part-time classified graduate or undergraduate student and demonstrate financial need.

To help address the health care shortage in rural areas, preference was given to students from a neighbor island or graduates from a neighbor island high school. Special consideration was also given to students pursuing studies in health care or health-related fields.

Hawaii Island recipients for the 2011-12 academic year include Faith-Celeste B. Blagrave, pursuing dual degree with a nurse practitioner specialty and doctorate in pharmacy from University of Hawaii, Hilo; Randy W. Dellinger BI, nursing, UH-Hilo; Ashleigh K. Drake, nursing, UH-Hilo; Anna L. Golden, nursing, UH-Hilo; Alicia K. Ikehara, nursing, UH-Hilo; Ayumi Maltby, nursing, UH-Hilo; Mariel Z. Mogote, nursing, UH-Hilo; Nadia R. Schlosser, pursuing dual degree in nursing and pharmacy, UH-Hilo; Prabu R. Segaran, pharmacy, UH-Hilo; Tawny K. Souza, physical therapy, UH-Hilo; Alain K. Takane, pursuing master’s in public health, UH; Tracy Thornett, nursing, UH-Hilo; and Remi J. Wada, nursing, UH-Hilo.

AlohaCare is now accepting applications for the 2012-13 academic year. The deadline to apply is March 1. To apply for the AlohaCare Believes In Me scholarships, visit hawaii.edu/finaid/scholarships/system/index.html. For more information on the scholarship, call 956-6625 or email scholars@hawaii.edu.

Hawaii Preparatory lists honor students

The following students at Hawaii Preparatory Academy were named to the middle school honor roll and upper school principal’s list for the second quarter:

Middle school honor roll:

Grade six: Mateo Batol, Tehani Carter, Malcolm Davis, Violet Fink, Sora Frysinger, Kailer Garcia, Katherine Gargiulo, Daniel Groves, Griffin Head, Ruby Johnson, Karly Noetzel, Corey Patton Lossner, Julia Perry, Alexa Richardson, Sarah Schulman, Coco Shafer, Nalani Wall, Gillian Winston, Keanu Young.

Grade seven: Tyler Alt, Wolfgang Brennan, Angela Castile-Krasuski, Jackson Cootey, Christopher DeSalvo, George Donev, Sarah Emmons, Elyse Fujioka, Valerie Hageraats, Sora Hataji, Ava Jean Johnston, Braden Kojima, Tola Mahoney, Brandon Melton, Kai Miller, Alivia Nelson, Sidney Vermeulen, Blake Winston, Noah Wise.

Grade eight: Zebadayo Bartholomy, Kathryn Byrnes, Rae Cardosa, Lokelani Ching, Melia Chobany, Lilith Coryell, Haley Dow, Erin Evans, Bodie Freitas, Kanaikai Gaughen, Catharine Gussman, Erika Horton, Kako Ito, Katherine Jefferson, Elizabeth Jim, Holly Kaapu, Nathan Ladwig, Daniel Matsumoto, Kristen Nielsen, Justin Perry, Azadeh Pournaderi, Abigail Riley, Amber Rogers, Teagan Rutkowski, Reece Ryan, Luke Taniguchi, Emma Taylor, Jordan Virtue, Bradley White, Chasen Whitson, Zach Wigzell.

To receive quarterly honor roll recognition, a student must achieve: a grade point average of 3.5 or better; no grade below B minus; elective grade of B plus or better; and conduct grade of A minus or better.

Upper school principal’s list:

Grade nine: Jessica Ainslie, Hideyoshi Akai, Keisuke Anzai, Leilani Bostock, Oriana Brostek, Malia Brown, Ariana Datta, Sabrina Disney, Harmony Graziano, Victoria Greco Hiranaka, Michael Ho, Tina Hwang, Cyrus Inglis, Alexander Jones, Alua Jumabayeva, Eliana Kaplan, Kiana Kikau, Teia Knoll, Ella Kotner, Kirara Kozuma, Cody Lambrecht, Vera Mahoney, Daniel Matsuda, Jacob McCafferty, Leila Morrison, Hannah Parkin, Davy Ragland, Alina Sabyr, Noor Sarwar, Amanda Stark, Connor Varney, Jingyi Xiang.

Grade 10: Kehaulani Akau, Marinna Barrie, Allexandria Blacksmith, Bo Bleckel, Malia Byram, Kimi Cantyne, Inkeun Chey, Mia Croonquist, Chancis Fernandez, Scott Fetz, Ryan Fitzgerald, Ryan Fujioka, Francesca Glaspell, Danielle Grainger, Mariah Haight, Mickie Hirata, Heamasi Holschuh, Madison Inman, Keli Jackson, Roman Kandirovskiy, Alina Katase, Caylin Kojima, Michael Kokal, Miel Krauss, Veronica Ladwig, Morgan Monahan, Sage Morgan, Justin Pham, Ruiyao Qi, Tiana Reynolds, Alexandro Siordia, Michael Spetich, Tiana Tabac, Leila Takahashi-Ruiz, Hannah Twigg-Smith, Kelly Ulrich, Alexandra Van Pernis, Di Zhu.

Grade 11: Catherine Bradley, Michaela Byrnes, Jellian Cuartero, Jingchen Cui, Lily Hoskinson-Weinstein, Emily Johnson, Hiroki Kawakami, Camille Kiyota, Yung-Yang Lan, Sung Ho Lee, Qiumin Liang, Bhillie Luciani, Duncan Michael, Risako Ninomiya, Thomasine Peebles, Audrey Pigott, Lauren Pries, Yoon Rho, Tatiana Shoniber, Angelica Shumov, Zoe Sims, Ryan Vazquez, and Briana Wilson.

Grade 12: Hunter Ainslie, Tsukasa Akai, Emma Alley, Rebecca Barrett, Eloi-K’ai Bernier-Chen, Sydney Budde, Katherine Case, Pataraphand Chirathivat, Jung Hwi Cho, Alexandra Disney, Trevor Edwards, Taylor Esaki, Kai Fink, Linnea Gregg, Weier Guo, Kayden Haleakala, Aretha Hiruma, Phong Hoang, Dustin Hoover, Torin Kubo, Kyle Matsuda, Mark Mitchell, Yasunobu Miyakawa, Meimei Nakahara, Courtney Rapier, Delaney Ross, Shun Lin Shu, Jake Siebert, Leiomalama Tamasese-Solomon, Kulananalu Tarnas, Mariko Thorbecke, Gou Wu, William Young.

To receive quarterly principal’s list recognition, a student must achieve: a grade average of A minus or higher; no grade below B; and a passing citizenship grade.

Makua Lani recognizes its honor students

Makua Lani Christian School has announce its honor roll for the second quarter of the 2011-12 school year.

Eighth grade; Sarah Cavanaugh, Sina Easley, Amelia Gray, Chasen Jakob, Timothy St. Clair, Sophia Whalen, Kalani Alapai, Maleya Creitz, Allie Freitas, Laakea Vogelgesang

Ninth grade: Aidan Alcos, Keili Dorn, Amanda Jensen, John Kathe, Chase Onaka, Spencer Todd, Rachel Won, Kylie Keliiaa, Daniel Kim

10th grade: Joy Choe, Tyler Dorn, Laura Dowsett, Taylor Kline, Karissa Komo, Amanda Madigan, Savannah Pitts, Kamela Souza, Bailey Wanner, James Whalen, Andrew Creitz, Genesis Marks, Kanoe Nitta, Alex Stevens.

11th grade: Keawe Alapai, Mercedes DeCarli, Lilly Dorr, Jason Formanack, Lauren Mabuni, Adora Omodt, Kanoa Reid, Madison Wanner, Chaya Cacal, Kimberly Casino, Naia Ilagan Willard, Cullen Muramoto, Kevin Murphy, Tiffany Nakamura, Pono Ng, Lydia Wood

12th grade: Gage Allen, Joseph Campbell, Grace Choe, Emmanuel Gordon, Beau Hesketh, Liana Jensen, Brandt Mabuni, Keelee Martin, Masaki Nakamura, Tyler Nakamura, Alex Todd, Hope Bradley, Kristen Carlsteen, Ricky Creitz, Andrew Dong, Eric Dong, Catherine Hudson, Jon Nagy, Nick Shaw, Katie Trester.

Edwards earns spot on UW dean’s honor roll

Jacob Bishop Edwards of Pahala has earned a spot on the University of Wyoming’s 2011 fall semester academic dean’s honor roll.

The honor roll consists of regularly enrolled undergraduates above freshman standing who earned a 3.4 or better grade point average, and freshmen who have earned a 3.25 or better grade point average.

To be eligible, students must have been enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours taken for letter grades.

Located in Laramie, the University of Wyoming is the state’s only four-year higher education institution, offering more than 180 programs of study.

Tarnas to compete in state competition

On Jan. 26, seven Parker School students competed in the Shakespeare Recitation Contest sponsored by the English Speaking Union.

Senior Jesse Tarnas won the competition with his performance of a monologue from “Hamlet.” He will represent Parker School on Oahu at the state competition on Feb. 25.

Hageraats, Melton win essay contest

Hawaii Preparatory Academy seventh-graders Valerie Hageraats and Brandon Melton were named finalists in the Inspired in Hawaii essay contest sponsored by the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation.

The contest is designed to help children in Hawaii “think big and help make Hawaii a better place.”

Hageraats’ winning essay was titled “Weak Education and Schools in Hawaii” and Melton’s essay was titled “For Hawaii’s Future.” Both students were recognized during an awards program in Honolulu on Jan. 18.

Najita is National Merit award finalist

Kieran Najita, a Parker School senior, has advanced as a finalist for a National Merit Scholarship Award.

In September, Najita was notified that he was one of 16,000 national semifinalists out of the 50,000 highest scorers of the approximately 1.5 million high school students who take the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test each year. Now Najita has advanced as one of approximately 15,000 finalists.

Last year, three out of the five National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from the Big Island were Parker students. All three advanced to the finals and two out of the three were selected as Merit Scholarship Award winners.

Najita, whose parents both teach English at Parker, has been a student at the school since 2005. He will find out in March if he is one of approximately 8,300 National Merit Scholarship Award winners. The awards range from a $2,500 lump sum scholarship, to corporate-sponsored and college-sponsored scholarships.

Hawaiian immersion school fetes students

Ke Kula o Ehunuikaimalino, a Hawaiian immersion school in Kealakekua, has announced its honor roll for the second quarter.

Students earning a 3.5 grade point average or above include: Chenia Patu, Valerie Brown, Shiloh Perreira, Andalen Losalio, Kawika Lawrence, Tahlia Fruen, Kailihiwa Manning, Mikala Fernandez, Kaulana Ruedy, Jashea Leleiwi, Kamahao Ruedy, Jacqeline Kuikahi-Tagaca.