WAILUA — With graduation looming less than a week away, the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a took care of business by awarding six Kapa‘a High School seniors scholarships during its Wednesday meeting at the Aloha Kaua‘i Beach Resort. Tanya Rames, Angela
WAILUA — With graduation looming less than a week away, the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a took care of business by awarding six Kapa‘a High School seniors scholarships during its Wednesday meeting at the Aloha Kaua‘i Beach Resort.
Tanya Rames, Angela Mones, Clay Chow, Ligaya Roman, Naomi Taylor and Patrick Trans were recipients of $500 scholarships presented by the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a.
Additionally, Thomas Gausepohl was the recipient of a Hawai‘i Rotary Youth Foundation scholarship for $5,000 presented by the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a’s New Generations representatives Lois Andersson and Katerina Norman during the club’s meeting.
Andersson said The Interact Club of Kapa‘a High School was also scheduled to receive a $1,000 donation through the New Generations program.
Mark Baird, president of the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a, said the Interact Club is one of the youth groups that operate under the auspices of the Rotary Club.
Andersson said the New Generations program’s basic mission is to support the elementary, middle and high school students, and the Kapa‘a club’s kuleana is to Kapa‘a Elementary, Kapa‘a Middle School and Kapa‘a High School.
Baird read a letter from Kapa‘a Middle School expressing appreciation for an earlier $300 grant that benefited the General Learner Outcome Carnival Reward Event at the school that was scheduled to take place Friday.
“This event has been designed to reward students who are succeeding in achieving GLO Initiatives,” Baird said. “These initiatives are designed to assist students to become self-directed learners and community contributors. While students are graded on performance measures in various classes, these types of behavioral measures are another way to help promote well-rounded, strong character building traits.”
Funds from these programs that benefit students are derived from the “Taste of Hawai‘i” event hosted by the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a and, this year, is scheduled for June 7 at the Smith’s Tropical Paradise in Wailua.
Lisa Wilson, in a radio conversation, Tuesday, said in addition to the scholarships presented to the Kapa‘a High School students, the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a also contributed scholarships to the culinary arts students at the Kaua‘i Community College.
These scholarships fall under the Vocational program currently being led by Rotarian Rodney Pascua who said KCC students received $6,000 in scholarships during the American Culinary Federation brunch that was held in February.
In addition to the KCC students, Pascua said the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a also presented scholarships to students at the Maui Community College, the Hilo Community College and the Kona Community College for a total of $8,000.
These are just some of the ways funds generated from the “Taste of Hawai‘i” benefits the community, Andersson said.
“There are only nine days before the Taste and tickets sales have been brisk,” Rotarian Marty Kahn, in charge of ticket sales, said Wednesday. “But there are still tickets for the biggest and best event on the island left.”
The Taste of Hawai‘i was started by the Rotary Club of Kapa‘a in 1988 and provides the primary source of fundraising for the club’s annual operating budget.
It has since grown to become the premier culinary event on Kaua‘i where chefs from around the state gather to provide guests with a tasting extravaganza.
For more information, call 652-7297 or visit www.tasteofhawaii.com.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
