NUKOLI‘I — Mollie Connelly, a Waimea High School student, asked about girls basketball at every table she stopped at Tuesday. Connelly missed the basketball clinic led by former University of Hawai‘i player Nani Cockett, Saturday, and was trying to find
NUKOLI‘I — Mollie Connelly, a Waimea High School student, asked about girls basketball at every table she stopped at Tuesday.
Connelly missed the basketball clinic led by former University of Hawai‘i player Nani Cockett, Saturday, and was trying to find a school that would allow her to play basketball while trying to pursue a secondary education.
Connelly was only one of several hundred high school students who flowed through the ballroom at the Kaua‘i Hilton Beach Resort where more than 90 college and career vendors had set up for the day-long Hawai‘i College & Career Fair.
“They’ve been doing this for more than 30 years,” said the event’s Kaua‘i coordinator Donna Aana-Nakahara. “I know we’ve had it on Kaua‘i for at least 10 years.”
Aana-Nakahara credits the success of this program to the corps of volunteers she has that represent different segments of the education community here.
Gerry Johansen, president of the Hawai‘i College & Career Fair Committee, said of all the fairs they host around the state, Kaua‘i has proven to be the most successful.
Originally geared for students only, the event expanded to include an evening session when parents were welcome to join their sons and daughters in investigating opportunities beyond high school. During the daytime showing, students were treated to a “College Admission Tips” presentation by Scott Liedtke, a college counselor at Le Jardin Academy. That theme switched to “Financial Aid 101” for the evening session.
Juana Santacruz, a financial aid officer at the Kaua‘i Community College led that presentation.
Aana-Nakahara said the layout for the event included colleges broken down by regional parts of the country, starting with the Western region greeting the students. Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i institutions of higher education were indicated by a red tablecloth, and career vendors lined the perimeter of the ballroom.
As the students flowed through the information central, it was obvious that Ulupono Academy, A Paul Mitchell Partner School, was one of the high draw stops where its designers worked on students’ hair, sometimes generating pockets of laughter from their peers.
Breanne Baptista, one of the representatives for the Mesa State College, was able to connect with the high school students, noting that she used to play softball for Waimea High School.
Another popular stopping point was the Sheraton Kaua‘i, a career vendor, where Sous Chef Ikaika Manaku was joined by three culinary arts students from the KCC culinary arts program in offering a variety of chocolate desserts.
“The students are taking orders for Thanksgiving pies,” KCC culinary arts instructor Martina Hilldorfer said. “There’re going to be either pumpkin or pumpkin crunch, but people need to order early before it gets sold out.”
The class went through more than 300 pies during last year’s fundraiser for the KCC culinary arts program, Hilldorfer said.
For orders this year, people can call chef Jason at 245-8221.
Also on handy with Kaua‘i police officer Ezra Kanoho was recently announced Deputy Chief Mark Begley who worked one-on-one with students interested in a career with the Kaua‘i Police Department.
