Hawaii Preparatory Academy seniors Scott Fetz and Lyle Boland Bleckel are the recipients of the Hiatt College Scholarships for Community Service and Academic Creativity and Initiative. HPA parents Jerry and Mahilani Hiatt were on hand for the presentation at the Upper School assembly Oct. 22.
Hawaii Preparatory Academy seniors Scott Fetz and Lyle Boland Bleckel are the recipients of the Hiatt College Scholarships for Community Service and Academic Creativity and Initiative. HPA parents Jerry and Mahilani Hiatt were on hand for the presentation at the Upper School assembly Oct. 22.
Fetz received the Community Service Award and a $1,000 scholarship for the nearly 500 community service hours he contributed to serving others. Fetz organized fundraisers for the American Red Cross, operated an after-school healthy snack shop, volunteered at a women and children’s shelter and led the charge for the school’s Back to Tap campaign. He currently serves as HPA’s executive service learning coordinator, responsible for organizing all club fundraisers on campus.
His commitment to serve others earned him the President’s Volunteer Service Award. He also was recognized as a top runner-up for the Prudential Spirit Award. Fetz is the son of Lloyd and Norma Fetz of Kailua-Kona.
Bleckel received the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award and a $1,000 scholarship for his extensive work in video and high dynamic range (HDR) photography. For the past two years, he has been part of a student team presenting new photographic techniques on the computer at MacWorld in San Francisco. Bleckel took more than half of the 2012-13 yearbook photos, and several of his athletic photos were published in local newspapers.
As an intern at the W.M. Keck Observatory for the past two years, he has been responsible for live streaming video of the monthly lectures. In his spare time, Bleckel works on independent projects at the school’s Energy Lab, conducting research on brain waves and sleep apnea. He also enjoys playing the guitar and is a member of the school’s golf and basketball teams. Bleckel is the son of Jerry Bleckel and Betsy Boland of Waimea.
The Hiatt College scholarships were established in 2004, when Jerry and Mahilani Kellett Hiatt established the Mahilani Kellett Hiatt Endowment Fund.
The Service Award recognizes a student who provides extensive and meaningful local service to the community, while the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award recognizes a student for scholarly work above and beyond the regular academic curriculum.
Award recipients are selected based on nominations from their classmates and faculty. These nominees then are reviewed by an independent school committee.