Kapolei Rotary Awards Four Area Students With Scholarships
Pictured (from left) are Rotary Club of Kapolei president Christina Enoka, scholarship recipient Arielle Ragasa, Rotary member Malia Schwartz, scholarship recipient Kimberly Salvador, Rotary member Paula Bailey, scholarship recipient Nicolette Nartates, scholarship recipient Azmera Hammouri-Davis and Rotary member Jeannie Shaw. Photo courtesy of Harold Nedd, Rotary Club of Kapolei.
The Rotary Club of Kapolei presented a total of $7,000 in college scholarship money to four outstanding West Oahu students at a club meeting June 7 at Kapolei High School.
Azmera Hammouri-Davis, a recent graduate of Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, will attend the University of Southern California in the fall with a $5,000 scholarship from the Hawaii Rotary Youth Foundation under the recommendation of the club’s youth services director Jeannie Shaw. Hammouri-Davis will pursue a degree in psychology.
Also a graduate of Campbell High, Nicolette Nartates received a $1,000 scholarship from club member Paula Bailey of Makakilo. Nartates, who has been in foster homes since age 9, will attend the University of Hawaii in Hilo to pursue her degree in nursing.
Another Makakilo resident, Malia Schwartz, presented Kapolei High School graduates Kimberly Salvador and Arielle Ragasa $500 each in scholarship money. Salvador will attend Leeward Community College to study hotel management, and Ragasa has her sights set on nursing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Both Bailey and Schwartz are two of the three members who sit on the club’s scholarship committee, and interviewed all the students who applied.
“These students have what it takes to do well in college academically, but financially it’s a challenge,” said the club’s public relations director Harold
Nedd. “They have hopes and dreams but limited family budgets because their families are experiencing hardships. That’s the situation, and the members felt compelled to help out in that way.”
Nedd further explained that the club awards scholarships every year, and the funds come from its main fundraiser held in September, The Taste of Kapolei. Last year The Rotary Club of Kapolei awarded 10 $1,000 scholarships to West Oahu students.
The Rotary Club of Kapolei, established in 1994, meets every Thursday morning at 7:30 for breakfast in the faculty lounge at Kapolei High School, and visitors are always welcome. For more information on the club, visit kapoleirotary.com.
