NAWILIWILI — Maran Osakoda and Jason Orbe-Smith were the first recipients of scholarships from the Payton Bryan-Chung Memorial Scholarship program Wednesday night. Osakoda and Orbe-Smith joined eight other Kaua‘i students who were honored at the Contractors Association of Kaua‘i Scholarship
NAWILIWILI — Maran Osakoda and Jason Orbe-Smith were the first recipients of scholarships from the Payton Bryan-Chung Memorial Scholarship program Wednesday night.
Osakoda and Orbe-Smith joined eight other Kaua‘i students who were honored at the Contractors Association of Kaua‘i Scholarship Dinner held at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club.
The Payton Bryan-Chung Memorial Scholarship, administered by the CAK, was established by Maile Bryan and the family of Maile’s son Payton to keep his memory alive so he can continue to make contributions to his community and the ‘aina he loved.
In making the presentation, Trinette Kaui, a CAK Board member, said “like Payton, Maran enjoys and appreciates her Hawaiian heritage and is actively involved in the perpetuation of her cultural roots.”
A graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Kapalama Campus, in 2005, Osakoda is a steerswoman for the Hanalei Civic Canoe Club, has mentored children at the Waipa Foundation project and is a volunteer at the Alu Like, Kaua‘i Island Center.
Orbe-Smith portrays Payton’s scholar-athlete attributes as the graduate of Kapa‘a High School lettered in varsity swimming for four years, lettered in track and field for three years, ran in the KIF cross country and qualified for the Honolulu Marathon Cross Country State Championships.
The pair received a combined total of $2,500 in scholarships to further their educational pursuits. Osakoda is attending the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa where she will be majoring in electrical engineering.
Orbe-Smith is heading to the University of Colorado in Boulder as an architecture and environmental design major.
Recipients of the CAK scholarships include Lynnell Wright, Kasey Barcelona, Koji Nakaya, Cedric Macadangdang, Garon Nobriga, Sara Nonaka and Kanoa Chung.
Wright and Barcelona are graduates of Waimea High School and are first-time recipients of the CAK scholarships. The remaining six students are repeat recipients of CAK scholarships.
Barcelona will be heading to Oregon State University where she plans to major in business marketing and civil engineering.
Wright, one of eight children of U‘ilani and Erwin Wright, will be attending Brigham Young University in Provo as a math and pre-engineering major.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
