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