PUHI — The Kaua‘i version of the Digital School Bus program hit a snag when COVID-19 hit.
PUHI — The Kaua‘i version of the Digital School Bus program hit a snag when COVID-19 hit.
“We had to change our curriculum to a virtual platform,” said Brian Yamamoto of the Kaua‘i Community College Cognitions program. “Students couldn’t come to campus to work. But that did not stop work on the bus. The automotive people redid the insides, restored the front cowling, and even put in some paint.”
Yamamoto was speaking to Kimo Bacon, the vice president and executive director of the Alaka‘ina Foundation, A Native Hawaiian organization whose mission is to build programs and opportunities for the youth of Hawai‘i. Bacon said Alaka‘ina Foundation has spent more than $4 million for the Digital Bus Program on Maui and Moloka‘i for “buses” offering state-of-the-art mobile laboratories that introduce students to technology that enhances their education.
Bacon said they were looking at a program on Kaua‘i, and after realizing that the KCC through the Cognitions program had a bus program, decided it would be more beneficial to partner with the college on the Digital Bus Program.
Since 2004, Alaka‘ina Foundation has invested $360,000 in the Cognitions STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Bus Support, and KCC engineering scholarships where students transferring to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa or another four-year engineering school receive financial aid. Since 2004, the Alaka‘ina Foundation has invested more than $10 million in the state through its various programs, including more than $4 million for the Digital Bus Program, more than $5 million for grants and scholarships, and more than $850,000 for its legacy community support programs.
The foundation visit to campus served as a coming out of the pandemic event as culinary arts instructor Duane Miyasato and chef Mark Oyama oversaw first-year culinary students serving up a menu of exotic heavy pupu to the dignitaries.
