Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1994 — Ka nūhou mai Alu Like [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ka nūhou mai Alu Like

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(presented by Ka Wai Ola O OHA and Alu Like as a public service)

K^AIU MaMLIKE

Alu Like's vocational education project

Alu Like's Native Hawaiian Vocational Education Project is a less visible but important part of the agency's work with the Hawaiian community. With support from the U.S. Department of Education, the vocational education project is responsible for the funding of Alu Like's computer training and entrepreneurship programs (See Ka Wai Ola , January 1994 and October 1993 issues) and works closely with community colleges and high schools around the state to ensure that Hawaiians get the education and training they need to enter the job market. "We have contracts with coUeges where we fund full-time counseling positions," explains NHVEP administrator Herbert Randall. "They work with native Hawaiian students, both to get them interested in post-secondary education, and to make sure they don't drop

out of college after they have enrolled." Counselors go to high schools and encourage students to enroll in community colleges. Onee on campus they help them with registration, and applying for financial assistance. They also encourage students to form native Hawaiian clubs, providing a familiar atmosphere that helps students feel more at home. Randall explains, "The counselor tries to make a home away from

home for native Hawaiian students. ... Many students say they would never have eome, or would never have stayed, if it weren't for the counselor." Alu Like's vocational education

project tinances counselors at eight schools around the state: one at Maui, Kaua'i, and Hawai'i eommunity colleges

and five at O'ahu colleges. NHVEP has also begun to work with a number of high schools in O'ahu to help provide students with some basic vocational skills they ean use after graduation. Kailua High School, with funding from Alu Like, has a Building and Construction Technology Academy whieh gives native Hawaiian students a ehanee to apply what they have learned in

the classroom - mathematics and physics for example - to an actual construction setting. Nānākuli High School has expanded on this and offers training in a variety of different fields using a team approach to teaching and classroom settings. "We want to integrate academic leaming with vocational training," says Randall. Other high school vocational programs NHVEP supports

include health and business management intemship projects. These provide on-the-job training for native Hawaiian high school students at hospitals and businesses around the state. In the past year

over 5U stuaents have enrolled in the project and have been placed in hospitals such as Straub and K a i s e r Permanente, at

many of the major hotels in Waiklkl, and at companies such as Citibank and Chevron USA. The vocational education project also has a contract with Winners at Work, an agency that helps handicapped adults become active and productive members of their eommunities. In the Alu Like contract, Winners at Work deals specifically with native Hawaiians and has

sites on the Wai'anae and Windward coasts and in Honolulu. Explains Randall, "A large part of the (Winners at Work) effort is outreach. People who are mentally and physically challenged tend to be shy. We work with the families, find out what they want, and make a plan. Our goal is to get these native Hawaiians educated and trained, and help them find meaningful employment."

For more information about Alu Like's Vocational Education Project eall 839-7922.

Business classes for O'ahu and Moloka'i. Alu Like's Entrepreneurship Training Program is for native Hawaiians interested in starting businesses on their own. The program has more than 700 graduates and covers subjects such as business attitude, marketing organization, Hnaneial management and business planning. The Training Program's next two classes will be on O'ahu and Moloka'i. The O'ahu classes begin on Tuesday, March 22 at the Maunakea Marketplace. The classes run from 6 p.m - 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. Wednesdays and Thursdays for seven weeks. The Moloka'i classes begin on Saturday, Apiil 23. Classes will run from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. for six consecutive Saturdays. Call 524-1225 for applications and fuither information.

Testing for computer training class Testing of applicants for admission into Class 21 of Alu Like's Hawai'i Computer Training Center will take plaee on Feb. 25, March 4, March 18, April 8, and April 22, 1994, at 1120 Maunakea Street, Suite 200, 7:45 a.m. - 1 p.m. Applicants will be tested in basic mathematics, English and typing. Anyone who could use this training, but can't afford it, should take advantage of this opportunity to prepare for employment in the business world. Priority will be given to native Hawaiians and those seeking entry level positions after completion of training. For more information, please contact the Hawai'i Computer Training Center at 532-3655, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

NHVEP activity