LIHUE — Two graduating seniors from Waimea High School and one from Kauai High School are recipients of this year’s Grove Farm scholarships that were presented during an evening reception at the Iliahi Crater site in Lihue.
Each of the recipients were awarded scholarships valued at $20,000 each. The scholarships are awarded based heavily on community service.
“Each of the scholars embody the spirit of Grove Farm with their willingness and commitment to serve,” said Warren Haruki, president and CEO of Grove Farm. “We wish them continued success and best wishes as they embark on the next step of their journey.”
Receiving the awards from Waimea High School were Braden Kobayashi, the son of Jon and Leila Kobayashi, and Kari Correa, the son of Kirk and Michelle Correa. Zach Safford, the son of Tim and Laura Goodrich Maier, was the recipient from Kauai High School.
The recipients were joined by their parents, previous scholarship recipients, and the Grove Farm ‘ohana in celebrating their accomplishments.
Correa will be heading to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to pursue a degree in education with her dream job being to return to Kauai and work at the Eleele Elementary School.
She left Waimea High School as the class president, a valedictorian for the Class of 2018, and was an athletic standout where she qualified for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tennis tournament since her sophomore year. She was also a captain for the Waimea High School girls cross country team, and attributes a lot of her mental and physical strength from being engaged in sports.
Kobayashi will be attending Creighton University with an eye on a biology degree. He held one of the most prestigious leadership roles on campus as the Waimea High School JROTC Battalion Commander while maintaining at least a 4.0 grade point average to be on the Principal’s List throughout his high school career.
He left the school by accumulating 24 college credits through the Early College program, and was also the recipient of the Harvard Book Award.
Safford has committed to the Notre Dame University where he plans to pursue a degree in civil engineering. The graduating Red Raider was active in his church community as well as the Civil Air Patrol. His true love is in the water where he holds swim records from both Swim Kauai Aquatics, and the Kauai Interscholastic Federation in the breaststroke and butterfly.
During his senior year at Kauai High School, Safford completed a Science Technology Engineering and Math capstone project prototyping 3D-printed fractal trusses to engineer stronger bridges using fewer materials.
Since the first scholarships were presented in 2010, Grove Farm has distributed $540,000 in scholarships.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
