Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, 17-year-old high school graduate Sophia Stark exemplifies the spirit of aloha by sharing her artistic talents and volunteerism island-wide and beyond. She spread the beauty of Hawaiian culture by traveling to China, where she sang as a soprano soloist with an orchestra, in addition to teaching and performing hula for children in Shanghai.
She testified at the Hawaiʻi State Culture and the Arts hearings as an advocate for grant funding to the Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre. Sophia also spoke at Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and Hawaiʻi State Public Library events to raise awareness for arts education in local schools and the community.
Sophia embraces all forms of art. In the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest, her concept art drawing, depicting a car designed to help the elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia, earned her the titles of USA winner and top ten world winner (including an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan for the award ceremony). There she was able to exchange ideas and stories with youth from around the globe. She also won 1st place locally and 2nd place nationally in the Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest and several other local art competitions.
Partnering with the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation, Sophia visits local schools and offers cooking demonstrations to promote healthy living. Her passion for the culinary arts landed her a spot on the FOX network’s hit T.V. show, MasterChef Junior, where she won a coveted white apron and received culinary training from chef Gordon Ramsay. As Miss Hawaiʻi’s Outstanding Teen 2018, Sophia organized and executed a fundraiser dinner for the Children’s Miracle Network at Roy’s Hawaiʻi Kai, working alongside the acclaimed chef, Roy Yamaguchi. At age eleven, she won the Keiki in the Kitchen recipe and cooking competition sponsored by the Hawaiʻi Food and Wine Festival, where one of the judges was an Iron Chef. She was also featured on an episode of Cooking Hawaiian Style. Sophia was scheduled to be a co-emcee and keynote speaker at the Western States Youth Gathering in California last summer; however, this event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
A recent highlight for Sophia has been her collaboration with former US Presidential candidate and political activist, Ralph Nader. She illustrated a newly published children's book titled, “I Lost My Bontalona,” written by Mr. Nader. The drawings were done when Sophia was thirteen, but it was just released in 2021 and teaches kids, and parents alike, that sometimes when you are looking for something you have lost, you eventually find it where it was supposed to be in the first place.
Sophia's future goals are two-fold, first to share her love of the stage by studying musical theatre in New York City in hopes of performing on Broadway, and secondly, she aspires to provide performing arts instruction for underprivileged children and teens.
As Miss Hawaii Teen Volunteer 2021, Sophia is excited to partner with the American Lung Association in Hawai'i. Both of her grandparents worked for the American Lung Association in New York, and that family connection has also inspired her to raise funds for the organization.
With the spread of COVID-19, which affects the respiratory system, lung health education and awareness is critical for the well-being of our communities. As an advocate for healthy living, Sophia hopes to promote the mission of the American Lung Association, and contribute to making a difference in our islands.