Dannica Ofisa, a criminal justice major at California State University at Fullerton and graduate of Lakewood High School receives the Christina Diaz Scholarship at the National Pacific Islander Educator Network’s (NPIEN) 7th annual conference held Nov. 15, 2008 at Paramount High School, Calif.

Named after the late Native Hawaiian artist, Christina Diaz, the scholarship recognizes Pacific Islander students who have excelled academically. NPIEN, a non-profit network of educators in the U.S. who seek to increase the number of Pacific Islander students who attend and complete college say “since only one out of ten Pacific Islanders graduate from college, and many lack funding to pursue higher education, the scholarships are very significant to the Pacific Islander community.”