Claire Masquida, Kealakehe High School Junior
- PAAC Club Participant -
- 2023 PAAC U.N. SDG Early College Credit Course Participant -
- 2023 Villars Institute Youth Symposium Participant -
- 2023 Eddie Tangen Awardee -
Claire founded and is the president of the HOSA Club for Future Health Professionals, she is the team captain for the Hawaiʻi State Science Olympiad, she is a member of the National Honor Society, and she completed one semester of PAAC’s Early College course on U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. She is ranked 1/304 at Kealakehe High School with a 4.0 GPA.
Claire also works part-time as a STEMWorks intern for Blue Ocean Barns, growing Brominata, a red seaweed that reduces methane emissions from cattle through their diet.
Through her PAAC studies, Claire has learned to “foster a sense of global citizenship for me and the other students, where we were encouraged to think beyond our immediate surroundings and embrace a broader worldview. [..] We also learned how to collaborate effectively with peers from different backgrounds and cultures, enhancing [our] cross-cultural communication skills, and developing a greater understanding of the world and its complex interconnectedness.”
Claire has been selected to travel with PAAC x Punahou to Geneva, Switzerland, in summer 2023 to study systems change for a net-zero world through the Villars Institute Youth Symposium. Claire will use the funds from the Eddie Tangen Award to support her advanced placement courses.