Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 1996 — OHA grant provides paid work experience to students [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA grant provides paid work experience to students

Eleven Hawaiian students at Maui Community College are participating in an OHA-funded project (The Native Hawaiian Cooperative Education Cohort) whieh provides them with paid working experience and helps them learn about Hawaiian values. OHA's support provides the salaries for students to work 20 hours/week in Hawaiian non-profit agencies and businesses during the 1 6-week spring semester whieh started in January. The students are also required to attend a weekly seminar on work-related issues offered by the cooperative education staff. ānd a month[y lecture serics by the Po'okela program whieh gives students a ehanee to learn about their culture and traditions. (The Po'okela program was founded in 1986 to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of native Hawaiian students

at Maui Community College.) Ten Hawaiian businesses and agencies on Moloka'i and Maui have been selected to act as host organizations and have taken on the responsibility of providing on-the-job training, mentoring, and student evaluations.

Moloka'i recipients of OHA's Native Hawaiian Cooperative Education Cohort grant. From left to right: Steve Hookano, Alika Gomes, Geraldine Wilhelm, Margaret Silva, and Terry Crozi.