{"id":215637,"date":"2025-05-18T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=215637"},"modified":"2025-05-19T12:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T22:44:09","slug":"kunimoto-award-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/18\/kunimoto-award-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultivating change: Hawai\u02bbi <abbr>CC<\/abbr> student wins career and technical education award"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_28054\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ajbQ2W_0jWY?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Fulfill Your Kuleana: Cathryn Krueger finds her passion at the Hawai\u2018i Community College\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The Masaki and Momoe Kunimoto Memorial Award was established by Tadashi and Elizabeth Kunimoto to honor the founders of Chikara Products, Inc., specializing in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> foods such as Aloha Tofu, Maui Natto and Chikara Konnyaku. This award is given in alternate years: on even years to a faculty member, and on odd years to a student, who makes a significant contribution to career and technical education in the <a href=\"https:\/\/uhcc.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community Colleges<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_215643\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-215643\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Cathryn Krueger\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-215643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-1-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-1.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-215643\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cathryn Krueger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College student <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ajbQ2W_0jWY\">Cathryn Krueger<\/a> has been named the recipient of the 2025 Masaki and Momoe Kunimoto Memorial Award.<\/p>\n<p>Krueger\u2019s dedication to research, community service and leadership set her apart. She recently participated in the Summer 2024 BIOMADE Kalo Research Internship, where she explored the fermentation process of kalo and its implications for nutrition and food security. Her commitment to sustainability extends beyond the lab\u2014she actively supports local food distribution efforts and conservation projects on <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Cathryn\u2019s achievements exemplify the spirit of this award,&rdquo; said Chancellor Susan Kazama. &ldquo;She is always so positive, and it shows in her passion for sustainable agriculture, commitment to community service, and drive to make a difference through hands-on learning.  She truly represents the values honored by the Masaki and Momoe Kunimoto Memorial Award.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-2.jpg\" alt=\"Cathryn Krueger\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-215644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-2.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/system-kunimoto-krueger-cathryn-2-130x130.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In addition to her agricultural and environmental work, Krueger has used social media to enhance outreach for the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr> Agriculture Program and contributed to landscaping efforts for the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr> Model Home Project. She also finds cultural connection through <span aria-label=\"KUkUena\">K&#363;k&#363;&#699;ena<\/span>, a hula h&#257;lau that brings together <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo and <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr> students and staff.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I\u2019m incredibly proud of Cathryn and all that she\u2019s accomplished,&rdquo; said Assistant Professor Lew Nakamura. &ldquo;She\u2019s not only an exceptional student but also a leader who uplifts those around her. This recognition is well deserved.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Other nominees<\/h2>\n<p>Three other outstanding students were nominated for this year\u2019s award:<\/p>\n<p>Sean Belisle from Honolulu Community College has shown remarkable leadership and initiative in the Computing, Security &#38; Networking Technology program, serving as president of the <abbr>HATS<\/abbr> club, leading national cybersecurity competitions, and inspiring his peers through hands-on projects and mentorship.<\/p>\n<p>Lucas Stevens of <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> Community College is a standout New Media Arts student whose leadership, creativity and innovation\u2014particularly in directing a practicum short film and exploring <abbr title=\"artificial intelligence\">AI<\/abbr> in game development\u2014have made a strong impact on career and technical education at his campus.<\/p>\n<p>Janie-Maria Kikila of Leeward Community College is a driven and entrepreneurial student who returned to college to pursue a Business Management degree, founding a campus marketing club and leading impactful initiatives to boost student engagement and success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College student Cathryn Krueger has been named the recipient of the 2025 Masaki and Momoe Kunimoto Memorial Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[222,498,1475,61,62,63,1095,65,1037,71,947,56],"class_list":["post-215637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-agriculture","tag-business","tag-computing-security-and-networking-technology","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-kunimoto-award","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-new-media-arts","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-system","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215637"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216096,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215637\/revisions\/216096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}