• Mina Poppas of Hilo was named to the fall 2020 dean’s list at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt. Poppas is studying in the College of Arts and Sciences. To be named to the dean’s list, students must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and rank in the top 20% of their class in their respective college or school.
• Stephanie Kate Onza of Honokaa has been named to the fall 2020 dean’s list at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. To be named to the dean’s list, a student must have earned at least 2.5 credits in the term, with a grade-point average of 3.6 or better (on a 4.0 scale). Onza’s major is undecided.
• Lillianna Campbell of Hilo, a freshman pre-nursing student at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo., was named to the fall 2020 dean’s list. The requirements for the dean’s list are a 3.3 or higher grade-point average, at least 12 graded hours for the semester and no “D,” “F” or “Incomplete” grades for the semester.
• Cristalyn Kahealani Naomi Borek of Hilo, daughter of Janelle Naito and Christopher Borek, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis last spring. Borek graduated from the School of Law with a master of legal studies. Borek was among the nearly 3,300 students who received degrees during the university’s 159th commencement ceremony, which was conducted virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sofia Ferreira, a University of Hawaii at Hilo marine science student, received the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation award during the 2020 Hawaii Conservation Conference conducted virtually in September. Ferreira presented “Examining coral community composition and 3D habitat structure on shipwrecks located in Apra Harbor, Guam.” Her research used innovative 3-D mapping technology to examine how underwater cultural heritage sites influence coral reef composition and habitat structure.
• Myleen Espejo, a student at Keaau High School, recently met with NBA players Darius Bazley from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jordan Clarkson from the Utah Jazz and Ben McLemore from the Houston Rockets as part of the LG sponsored After-School All-Stars Songwriting Academy. During the virtual meeting, the players had a chance to listen to her original song, “Find Someone,” that she wrote as part of the summer program. The summer program, sponsored by TikTok, was headlined each week by a Sony/ATV Academy artist interacting with the students as they worked through the curriculum. Classes were conducted on a Google Classroom platform. Headline events were livestreamed or recorded and shared.
• Isaiah Nakoa-Oness of Hilo was named to the fall 2020 dean’s list at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. Graceland students with a GPA between 3.25 and 3.64 are named to the dean’s list.
• Undergraduate and graduate degrees were conferred to 626 students following the fall 2020 semester at Concordia University in Seward, Neb. Krystal Moore of Hilo and Malcolm Helm of Keaau each earned a master’s degree in education.