Big Island Press Club awards scholarships to two Island students

Hilo and the broader Big Island newsroom pipeline got a boost from two students with deep Hawaii Island roots, each now training for careers that could help tell the island’s own stories. The Big Island Press Club awarded scholarships to Rianne Angelique Kealohaokalani Kalama Empaynado and Mari Iwata, backing two young women whose education and work already point toward communications careers with local value.

Empaynado, a Hilo High School alumna now a freshman at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, received $1,500. She is majoring in communications and has already spent time in student media and creative media projects at Hilo High, including KVIKS Spotlight, the yearbook, Ke Kalahea and public-service animation work. Iwata, a Waiākea High School alumna studying screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, received $1,000. Her path reflects the same local stake in the future of media: the island’s students learning to report, write and produce content that can stay connected to their home communities even when college takes them away.

The club publicly recognized the 2026 scholarship recipients during its annual Scholarship Dinner Reception at the Hilo Yacht Club, where the event ran from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 28. Guest speaker Daniel Ikaika Ito, a Hilo-born surf journalist and communications professional, headlined the evening and reinforced the thread running through the program: Hawaii Island students can see a path from local schools to professional media work without losing their connection to place.

The Big Island Press Club describes itself as Hawaii Island’s independent watchdog, with a mission that includes transparency, open government, local journalism, educational seminars, legislative advocacy and scholarships. Its scholarship foundation says applicants must have Big Island residential ties, show interest in journalism or a related career, be enrolled full time and demonstrate academic achievement. Those criteria make the awards more than a cash gift. They are an investment in the island’s next generation of reporters, communicators and public-information professionals.

That matters on an island where local coverage shapes civic awareness and where too many promising graduates leave for opportunities elsewhere. In earlier years, the foundation has awarded thousands of dollars to students pursuing journalism and related fields, including a total of $4,600 to six Hawaii Island students at one annual dinner. The club has also tied its scholarship endowment to longtime supporters such as Bill Arballo and Jack Markey, showing how local giving can build a lasting media workforce from within the community it serves.