HMSA honored nine high schools and 15 students at the 2017 HMSA Kaimana Awards & Scholarship Program luncheon on Saturday, June 10. School principals, athletic directors, students, and family members came from across the state to the Hawaii Convention Center to honor Hawaii’s top high schools and the finest scholar athletes.
HMSA and the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) began the program in August 2005 to recognize all-around accomplishments by high schools and reward individual students with scholarships.
This is the third year that I’ve been on the planning team and the students and schools that apply for this program never cease to amaze me. This year we received 377 scholarship applications and it’s a tough job for the selection committee to choose just 15 students. The scholarship winners are uniquely successful — well-rounded in academics, athletics, and the community — and they all have a common vision of coming home to help advance the health and well-being of Hawaii.
At Saturday’s award ceremony, students received scholarships worth $5,000. High schools were recognized for achieving the highest program scores in their league (classified by enrollment) in academics, athletics, community service, healthy activities, and sportsmanship. The nine highest-scoring schools received a check for $1,500.
Hawaii News Now News Anchor Steve Uyehara and Hawaii Pacific Health Director of Foundation Communications Liz Chun emceed the awards luncheon. Presenters included KITV4 news anchor and UH Rainbow Warrior football play-by-play announcer Robert Kekaula, ESPN Hawaii radio personality Josh Pacheco, and Dave Vinton, director of OC16 Sports.
