This year, the Big Island Press Club awarded scholarships totaling $5,000 to four Hawaiʻi Island students. Each winner received $1,250 to pursue higher education in journalism or a related field.
The recipients include:
● Lichen Forster, of Mountain View, is a geology major at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and has been editor in chief of the student newspaper, Ke Kalahea, for the past three semesters. Forster, who’s majoring in geology, wants to pursue a career in science journalism. Forster plans to be an exchange student at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand for the fall semester, while continuing the newspaper work as copy editor. This is their third BIPC award.
● Maya-Lin Green, of Waimea, is a 2008 graduate of Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a communications and media journalism major at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Green joined Ke Kalahea as a staff writer in the spring semester. She plans a career in public relations, writing or a related field.
● Kai Hayashida, a Hilo High 2023 graduate from Hilo, plans to major in journalism and will attend Whitworth University, in Spokane, Washington, this fall. Hayashida called Hilo High School athletic contests on its Hiki No video media platform KVIKS.
● King James Mangoba, of Papaaloa, is a 2023 graduate of Hilo High School who plans to major in communications. Mangoba will attend Fordham University in New York City. Mangoba participated as a part of the crew to produce a story video for PBS Hawaii’s Hiki No program, an activity that whetted his interest in television journalism.
Awarding scholarships to promote journalism is an annual event and one of the primary projects of the press club, which is the oldest in the state.
Generous gifts from several Big Island Press Club members along with an annual donation from the family of Bill Arballo, have supplemented funds previously donated by the families of Hugh Clark, Robert Miller, Jack Markey and Yukino Fukabori.
Photos courtesy of Big Island Press Club