Craig P. Hutchinson Memorial Scholarship

 

At the Independent Martial Arts School, we are devoted to excellence in the learning, and teaching, of self-defense. Beyond this central purpose, we also seek to foster good attitudes and scholastic achievement among our students. At every opportunity, we encourage them to stay in school, focus on their homework, share news of their achievements with our instructors, and pursue higher education after high school.

In 1993, a scholarship fund was established by the Independent Karate School (predecessor to the IMAS) to honor the memory of an outstanding student: Craig P. Hutchinson.

  • Earning his black belt in 1985, Craig demonstrated leadership qualities in every facet of his life and served as a great source of inspiration to many of our younger students. To our community's great loss, Craig contracted infectious mononucleosis while a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University and passed away on December 30th, 1992. Craig exemplified the spirit of the martial arts as he astounded his doctors at University Hospital with his courageous will to live.

  • The Craig P. Hutchinson Memorial Scholarship Foundation is a non-profit scholarship foundation that supports post graduate educational endeavors of hardworking black belts of the Independent Martial Arts School of Nashua (formerly known as the Independent Karate School).

    This foundation has been a federally recognized non-profit since 2007 and continues to fund higher education aspirations of our hardworking students who exemplify the values instilled by the IMAS. In recent years, our good fortune has allowed us to grant an annual award of $10,000 to our recipients. Since the IMAS takes great pride in all who achieve the rank of black belt in their school, selecting the scholarship winner each year is one of the greatest, yet most gratifying, challenges we face as a non-profit.

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$181,540

in scholarships awarded

Scholarship Impact

35

Recipients to date

Meet our Recipients

  • Michael Mwaniki

    2025 Recipient

    Michael is a second-degree black belt and instructor with our school. He is currently in Boston College’s Pre-Med program with the aspirations to go into dentistry as an oral surgeon.

    See Michael’s recent feature in the Nashua Telegraph.

  • Annika Hayden

    2024 Recipient

    Annika graduated from Nashua High North in 2024, and is currently dual-majoring in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

  • Kaitlyn Frye

    2024 Recipient

    Kaitlyn graduated from Nashua High South in 2024, and is currently dual-majoring Journalism and Economics at Simmons College in Boston.

  • Anna Correia

    2017 Recipient

    After high school, Anna went on to graduate with high distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. in Architectural Engineering and a M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering. She is currently working in Massachusetts as a life safety code consultant, helping architects and owners find compliant fire protection, life safety, and accessibility solutions for their buildings. She lives with her fiancee and their two cats in New Hampshire.

  • Nikhil Karnane

    2016 Recipient

    After graduating high school, Nikhil went to Bentley University, obtaining a degree in Economics and Finance. When he graduated, he moved to the Boston suburbs and started working at Wayfair, doing Performance Marketing Analytics, and leading the management of Search Marketing channels for Wayfair's specialty brands. He still speaks about how impactful his experiences with the IKS/IMAS were in shaping his current self

  • Stephanie Barber (Marquis)

    2001 Recipient

    Stephanie graduated as Salutatorian of the Merrimack High School class of 2001, and obtained a degree in Theatre from Boston College in 2005, as well as a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California in 2015. She currently works as an education technology product manager for Teaching.com. There, she runs the app Reading.com - built for parents to teach their kids how to read at home. She lives with her husband and son in Long Beach, CA (in a historic 1914 Craftsman home) and she misses the dojo all the time!

  • Rich Mohrmann Jr

    2000 Recipient

    Since graduating high school in 2000, Rich pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and a minor in Music from the University of New Hampshire. His career has taken him through Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase, Atrium Medical, and his current role as a Senior Decision Support Analyst with Covenant Health. He also works in laser crafting and sees seasonal work as a professional Santa Claus. He has been married to his wife Kristyn for over fifteen years and lives with their two cats: Rico and Mulan. Outside of work, he stays involved with gardening, hunting, and youth ministry volunteering at his church.

Upcoming Events

Benefit at The Nash

July 22 - 28, 2025

35% of any profits generated by the casino for this date range will be given to the charity as a straight donation.  Therefore, the more business that The Nash does during this stretch, the greater chance the scholarship foundation will benefit!

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