Yamamoto receives $2K scholarship

KALAHEO — Caylee Yamamoto, a graduate of Waimea High School with her mother, Ann Yamamoto of Kalaheo, was honored at a luncheon by the members of the WHS Class of 1952.

Caylee is the recipient of the Class ’52’s fifth annual scholarship award via the endowment administered by the Hawaii Community Foundation. With this award of $2,000, Caylee, who is enrolled at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, is working toward a bachelor of education degree.

“I want to provide students the ability to shine, to stimulate them to want to learn,” she said. “To use interactive techniques, to relate concepts to the real world situations and to have fun learning.”

The event also brought an opportunity for the Class of ‘52 to celebrate a five-year milestone on the establishment of their scholarship fund with the Hawaii Community Foundation.

The fund began when Millicent Bulatao Wellington, a retired teacher and community leader, shared her experience with fellow classmates about discovering the large number of high school graduates seeking higher education each year which met the grants’ academic qualifications and need for financial assistance criteria.

“On the heartwrenching realization that the availability of scholarships to support more of these deserving applicants was sorely lacking, Millie reached out to her classmates and sought their approval and commitment to establish a perpetual endowment as a legacy of the WHS Class of ‘52,” said a press release.

Classmates accepted and supported the challenge in 2010, and by 2011, the first $1,000 scholarship was made to a graduating student at the Waimea High School’s award assembly.

The endowment continues to grow via donations from classmates, family, friends, and supporters through the investment and management by the Hawaii Community Foundation. The fund, which started at $25,000, is over $43,000.

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