Three Kaua‘i High seniors earn $20,000 Grove Farm scholarships

Three Kaua‘i High School seniors just locked in $60,000 in college aid, a sum that can make the difference between staying on track for school and watching tuition, housing and travel costs push higher education out of reach for an island family.

The Grove Farm Foundation named David Braman, Skylar Tanicala and Samantha Tominaga as its 2026 scholarship recipients, awarding each student $20,000 toward post-secondary study. Grove Farm said the three were selected from a competitive pool because they combined academic excellence with citizenship, leadership, strong character and service to others.

Braman has built a record that reaches well beyond the classroom. He is a class president, a National Honor Society member and co-president of Kaua‘i High’s Red Raider Productions. He also helped launch the school’s first Unified Athletics program, which paired students with intellectual disabilities and the boys basketball team and culminated in a schoolwide showcase centered on inclusion. Braman plans to study kinesiology at the University of Missouri and become a physical therapist, a career path shaped by watching his “Amma” go through therapy after an injury.

Tanicala’s college plans keep him closer to home. The current student body president, captain of the mock trial team and a trumpet section leader, he will study Management Information Systems at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His community work has already had a direct local impact: after learning that a kūpuna had been scammed over the phone, he started Kūpuna Technology Classes and helped more than 50 kūpuna learn how to spot scam calls, protect digital safety and understand newer tools such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

Tominaga also earned one of the three top awards, adding her name to a program Grove Farm says is one of the largest scholarship offerings in Hawai‘i. The foundation limits eligibility to Hawaii state residents graduating from Kaua‘i’s three public high schools, Kapaa, Kaua‘i and Waimea, and requires at least a 3.0 GPA, enrollment in an accredited four-year college or university and ongoing community service to keep the scholarship.

The foundation said the scholarship program has run for 17 consecutive years. In 2025, Grove Farm awarded nine scholarships totaling $66,000, and in 2022 it said the program had distributed $780,000 since launching in 2010. The 2026 application period opened in February, with each school’s screening committee first narrowing the field before finalists advanced to the final selection.

For Kaua‘i, the value goes beyond the checks. It is a small but measurable investment in students who are already training to become part of the island’s next workforce, whether in health care, technology or community leadership.