PUHI — What a difference a C makes. It’s a passing grade, but Jonathan Pila and Diedrick Griep, both lifelong Kaua’i residents, would rather have the two Cs of Kaua’i Community College than the three Cs of Kaua’i Community Correctional
PUHI — What a difference a C makes.
It’s a passing grade, but Jonathan Pila and Diedrick Griep, both lifelong Kaua’i residents, would rather have the two Cs of Kaua’i Community College than the three Cs of Kaua’i Community Correctional Center.
They’re getting the chance to attend college, thanks to a grant from the island’s five Rotary clubs that covers the cost of tuition and books for the young men.
Griep is in a psychology class this semester and aspires to a liberal arts degree while working two jobs. He is on an extended furlough from the correctional center, where he was incarcerated for a drug conviction.
Pila will start this fall in KCC’s two-year electronics technology program. He works at the prison offices through the Lifetime Stand volunteer program.
Both answer without hesitation when asked what led them to prison: “Drugs,” say the young men who now have reason to smile and hope for a different future as a result of the Rotary donations.
The five club presidents have formed a Presidents Club, said Bob Bartolo, president of the Rotary Club of Po’ipu Beach. This is the first funding of prison-related students at KCC.
The other presidents are Nelson Secretario, Rotary Club of Kapa’a; Jon Anderton, Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay; Rich Minero, Rotary Club of West Kaua’i; and Sandra Day, Rotary Club of Kaua’i.
Jack Stevenson, a member of the Kapa’a club, also attends the Presidents Club meetings as the Rotary assistant district governor for Kaua’i.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
