Hermosa Beach Friends of the Library awards two high-school literary scholarships

by Laura Garber 

Two South Bay high school students, both named Leilani, took home $1,000 scholarships on Wednesday, June 3, at the Hermosa Beach Friends of the Library’s annual scholarship ceremony for their essays on local history and beach culture.

Mira Costa High senior Leilani Song, who heads to Duke University in the fall to study Environmental Science, won the ‘Turning the Page Scholarship’ for creative writing. Her essay, “A Different Tune,” follows a stressed high schooler who seeks refuge at Either/Or Bookstore in Hermosa Beach during a Wi-Fi outage, where a conversation with a local writer and the sounds of Miles Davis convince him to stop performing and start writing like himself.

Leilani Overton of Redondo Union High School won the ‘History & Heritage Scholarship’ for “The Man Who Walked on Water,” a research essay tracing the legacy of George Freeth, the Hawaiian-English waterman who brought surfing and organized lifesaving efforts to Redondo Beach in 1907. Overton examines how Freeth’s partnership with Henry Huntington shaped local tourism and beach safety in ways still held today. She will study Kinesiology at Cal State Long Beach in fall.

The scholarships are open to juniors and seniors at public or private high schools in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach or Redondo Beach, with essays blind-reviewed by a panel of former teachers, published authors, editors and librarians.

“Both Leilani Song and Leilani Overton perfectly captured how our local history and unique beach culture influence who we are today,” said Events and Program Coordinator Nancy Domingues. ER