NUKOLI‘I — A steady stream of students, most of them high-school seniors, flowed through the ballrooms of the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort yesterday as the doors opened to the 30th Annual College and Career Fair and a field of over
NUKOLI‘I — A steady stream of students, most of them high-school seniors, flowed through the ballrooms of the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort yesterday as the doors opened to the 30th Annual College and Career Fair and a field of over 50 exhibitors.
With the opening, a format to enable more parents and working people to visit the event along with students saw the show divided into two sessions, the first starting at 9 a.m. and closing at 11:30 a.m. The second showing opened up at 5 p.m. and ran until 7 p.m., primarily to accommodate parents as well as other students who would otherwise miss the “school hours” timing.
Hawaii Pacific University’s Beandon Lee, admission counselor, led three special seminars, “Free College Admissions Tips.”
The evening schedule called for seminars on “Admission Process,” led by Robert Kvidt, independent college counselor; “College Success Strategies,” led by Sandy Magnussen, Kaua‘i Community College counselor; and “Financial Aid: Need Money for College?” led by Frances Dinnan, Kaua‘i Community College’s financial director.
The annual college and career fair exists primarily to provide Hawai‘i’s high-school students, parents, and other interested individuals with information and guidance about post-secondary educational, technical training and career opportunities.
“This is our 30th one, and over the years we’ve served over 400,000 students,” said Gerry Johansen of The Kamehameha Schools, who serves as the president and general chairman of the Hawaii College and Career Fair Committee.
Johansen said that on Kaua‘i, the program is headed up by Donna Nakahara of The Kamehameha Schools, who also encourages involvement of high-school counselors from both the public and private schools.
Aaron Pollick, one of the committee members, was also on hand, representing both the committee as well as helping with the Kaua‘i Hawaii Army National Guard recruiting officer.
Tori Kagawa, a student at Waimea High School, took advantage of the opportunity to visit her cousin, Sara Miura, a graduate of Kaua‘i High School who was manning the Pacific Lutheran University table along with Joohee Bergland, assistant director of admission.
Miura said she used to work for PLU, and came along to help since she was in job transition in Seattle.
David and Ruth Fullaway of Maui were manning the Colorado State University booth, and fielded questions from Fa‘a Ta‘ala, another Waimea High School student who was aiming to attend school somewhere in Colorado.
Fullaway said he used to work on Kaua‘i in the 1960s, and remembers his tenure as an end coach for Kapa‘a High School in 1962 under then head coach Don Shishido.
He also explained that Colorado attracts a lot of Hawai‘i students to schools in that state, dating back to 1946 when the Greeley school’s officials loosened requirements to allow Hawai‘i students to attend school seeking a career in teaching.
Many of those graduates became residents of Colorado, where they became teachers, thus cementing the relationship between Colorado and Hawai‘i.
One of the programs being offered by Colorado State is a renewable $5,000 provost scholarship program which mirrors the Western Universities (WUI) standards in SAT scores and GPA, but is less costly to the school, and provides the same financial rewards to qualifying students.
Billy Gibson of Kaua‘i Community College was manning the Culinary Institute of the Pacific station, and was impressed with the flow of students, noting that one student kept saying, “I want to be a chef. I want to be a chef,” before even approaching their table.
Another student earned a prize from Gibson for her outgoing manner in discussing topics, while another visited with her mother, the mom saying her daughter was interested in a culinary career.
Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative officials had a booth and, based on the non-ending crowd at that station, it was a successful presentation.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
