NUKOLI‘I — A creative twist to college housing was new to the 34th Annual College & Career Fair, Tuesday. “We try to get some new people every year,” said Bricen Moritsugu of Alu Like, Kaua‘i, this year’s event coordinator. Marcus
NUKOLI‘I — A creative twist to college housing was new to the 34th Annual College & Career Fair, Tuesday.
“We try to get some new people every year,” said Bricen Moritsugu of Alu Like, Kaua‘i, this year’s event coordinator.
Marcus Fullard-Leo is the representative of the manager of Ohia Student Suites in Waikiki, and said that although they have been providing dormitory accommodations for students for about three years, this is the first time they’ve attended the fair.
“We are the largest private dormitory operation in Waikiki,” Fullard-Leo said. “In total, we have about 600 rooms that are available to students who are registered in any school on O‘ahu.”
Fullard-Leo noted that during times of low resort and hotel occupancies, brokers sometimes go out and sell “dorm space” in hotels, but when students start living there, they discover that a lot of the amenities like the lobbies and common areas are off limits to them.
Fullard-Leo said the Hawaiian Island Student Suites only provide dormitory accommodations and along with the room, offer a full range of amenities to students.
“One of the advantages of living in a private dormitory system is that if one student is registered at one school and wants to live with a friend who is registered at a different school, it can be done,” Fullard-Leo said.
Other advantages are that the rooms are available when other school dormitories close down. This is the case in the summer when school dormitories shut down and students need to find other accommodations until school resumes.
“If a student is registered for the Fall semester, they can stay through the summer,” Fullard-Leo said.
Living in Hawaiian Island Student Suites is like living in an on-campus residence hall. Resident assistants help residents with personal needs and plan social events for residents to meet each other and form friendships. Additionally, the rooms are air conditioned, have Internet and offer on-site laundry facilities.
Currently, Fullard-Leo said they offer about 600 rooms in two buildings in Waikiki, and have a Web site under construction.
He added that the program is catching on with O‘ahu schools and Hawai‘i Pacific University is already including information from HISS as part of its housing information packet.
Moritsugu said this year’s event catered to about 450 high school students during the morning session, but that number jumped when middle school students showed up.
The evening session was open to the public and parents of students as young as eighth grade were mingling through the rows of more than 100 vendors offering career and college opportunities.
“These students are all college prepatory students and we wanted them to see what lies ahead for them,” said Gail Thompson, one of the teachers of 17 students from the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School who joined students from all three of Kaua‘i’s public high schools as well as students from Island School and home schooling programs.
Nikki Ishibashi is a graduate of Waimea High School and was among the presenters of Ulupono Academy.
“Nikki is a student at the Academy and this is a nice way to show what students can achieve,” said Chris Jose, another of the Ulupono presenters.
Ulupono was one of the popular stopping points for students who had an opportunity to get a hair treatment as part of the academy’s demonstrations.
Cheryl Grady of the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative was wearing a different hat as she manned a table encouraging kama‘aina to return home with the skills they learned and acquired following high school.
In a “Kama‘aina come home…to Kaua‘i” program coordinated through the WorkWise Kaua‘i program, Grady said the program is geared to encourage kama‘aina to come back home to live, work and play.
Based on the County of Kaua‘i’s Economic Development Plan 2005-2015 of economic self-sufficiency, economic diversification and economic stability, six emerging industry clusters have been identified. These include food and agriculture, health and wellness, sports and recreation, arts and culture, high technology and renewable energy.
Grady said, “We want Kaua‘i people to fill positions in these areas. We want them to come back home.”
Moritsugu said the Kaua‘i committee who helped coordinate this event consists of John Constantino, Donna Nakahara, Nellie Okamoto, Leila Kuboyama, Diane Fukuyama, Joan Shaw and Kimo Chun.
“This is the 34th event,” he said. “Wait until next year when it’ll be the 35th anniversary. It’ll be even bigger.”
