Rev. & Mrs. Sensho Sasaki Scholarship – August 2020

The recipients for the 35th Annual Rev. and Mrs. Sensho Sasaki Scholarship are Stacey Kawabata, Kylie Mukoyama and Wendy Sakuma.  With the closure of the Temple, we were not able to present them with their scholarships at the Graduation Service that was scheduled on June 14.  The Temple congratulates the recipients and wishes them continued success in their college life.

Each June, the Sasaki scholarship is awarded to a college-bound high school student in the Temple.  The recipient must enroll in a college, express a strong interest in the Buddhist religion, have an excellent attendance record in Dharma School, and have been participating in other Buddhist activities.  The scholarship committee also considers YBA participation, Buddhist education activities and an essay.  Sometimes the committee awards multiple scholarships, depending on the qualifications of the applicants.

The scholarship is funded by the Annual Sasaki Scholarship Golf Fundraiser usually held at the end of August.  Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the golf tournament was cancelled for this year.  Hopefully, the golf tournament can resume in 2021.

To date, the scholarship has given out 61 scholarships to deserving Dharma School students.

In gassho,

Sasaki Scholarhip Committee and

MVBT Golf Committee

 

History of Rev. & Mrs. Sensho Sasaki Scholarship

 The first Rev. & Mrs. Sensho Sasaki Scholarship was awarded in 1986.  This year – and in every year – we have outstanding recipients.  The total number of recipients through 2020 totals 60 high school graduates.  They are listed below.

1986 Terri Hirotsu

1987  Audrey Kawaye

1988  Rina Sasaki and Jan Tashiro

1989  Traci Endo

1990  Janell Uyehara

1991  No record of a recipient

1992 Ashley Ozawa and Todd Uyehara

 1993 Lisa Nishimoto, Kimberly Tsuchida and Cheryl Uyehara

1994 Stephanie Nitta and Christine Yoshinaka

1995 Robin Arita

1996 Terra Briones

1997 Ryan Arita and Chieko Otsuka

1998 Nicole Nishimoto and Chip Yamanaga

1999 Stephanie Mori

2000 Austin Ozawa and Lauren Sasaki

2001 Ashley Sasaki and Sarah Sasaki

2002 Casey Harbin and Brandon McCoy

2003 No applicants

2004 Scott Takasuka

2005 Michelle Imai and Chelsea Sugimoto

2006 Stephanie Kitasoe

2007 Robert Imai and Justin Koyama

2008 Megan Sawamura

2009 Kacyn Fujii and Leslie Hamachi

2010 Alyssa Imai, Curtis Koyama and Scott Tahara

2011 Ashley Andrews, Kelsey Sawamura and Haley Sugimoto

2012 Thomas Koyama

2013 Jennifer Adachi and Kevin Schindler

2014 Alec Matsumoto and Haley Sawamura

2015 Kaylyn Arima and Meiko Flynn-Do

2016 Devon Matsumoto

2017 Hayley Arima, Erin Hamasaki, Jordyn Sato and Alex Shinkawa

2018 Maddie Matsumoto

2019 Mitchell Kita, Vicky Shinkawa and Evan Tsukahara

2020 Stacey Kawabata, Kylie Mukoyama and Wendy Sakuma