PO‘IPU — Leila Kobayashi was glad the 750 delegates of VMWare selected the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa as their destination. “If they had stayed at another property, we wouldn’t have this opportunity,” the student coordinator at Koloa Elementary
PO‘IPU — Leila Kobayashi was glad the 750 delegates of VMWare selected the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa as their destination.
“If they had stayed at another property, we wouldn’t have this opportunity,” the student coordinator at Koloa Elementary School said Monday while waiting with about 40 fourth-graders. “If they went to the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club, I don’t think we would have been able to get the students there on time.”
The Koloa students opened the business meeting for VMWare Monday morning, its president prefacing the group’s appearance by asking how many of the delegation were parents, or grandparents, and amidst some laughter, how many were missing their children.
“We will show you the power of children,” said he president of the American software company based in California. “We have the children from the oldest school on the island welcoming you to one of the best places to be.”
Under the direction of teachers Keoni Pau and Mark Gomez, students took the stage with oli and hula welcoming the guests to Kaua‘i. The VMWare guests reciprocated with enthusiastic applause.
“We were going to just do a welcome at the school,” Kobayashi said. “But while we were practicing for the school welcome, we got a call asking if we could do it for the entire group.”
She said it was an honor, because following the business meeting, groups of VMWare people were scheduled to volunteer at Koloa, Kaua‘i High School in Lihu‘e, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi and King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School in Hanama‘ulu.
“They didn’t want any media when they came to the schools,” Kobayashi said. “But they are scheduled to do a lot of work.”
That included replacing the computer lab, cleaning the school grounds, cleaning up and rejuvenating the school garden overgrown with weeds, planting a Hawaiian garden with native Hawaiian plants for the students, painting several of the school buildings, repairing some of the play equipment, and cleaning and painting the school’s parking lot.
Kobayashi said if that was the scope of work VMWare volunteers were scheduled to do for a smaller school like Koloa, the amount of work at the other schools must be more. “This giving back to the community is absolutely amazing,” Kobayashi said. “They not only come here to visit, they are giving back to the community in ways we cannot.”
