KAPA‘A — Lunch was the perfect cap to a morning of dancing and other activities, Friday at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center, and the dessert contributed by Meadow Gold Dairies was the perfect way to wrap up lunch. “Friday is the
KAPA‘A — Lunch was the perfect cap to a morning of dancing and other activities, Friday at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center, and the dessert contributed by Meadow Gold Dairies was the perfect way to wrap up lunch.
“Friday is the last day of the county’s summer enrichment program,” said Kristen Miyasaki, the program coordinator for the summer program under the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation. “School starts in about two weeks and Meadow Gold has been delivering their donation to the different sites throughout the week and the children get to enjoy ice cream to wrap up the program.”
Wednesday, students in the Westside program got their special treat during the Makahiki Games at the Waimea High School athletic field before wrapping up the day with a special matinee showing of “Lilo and Stitch” at the historic Waimea Theater.
Marta Hulsman, the site director for the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center, said this year, there is no central gathering of all the students, but regional gatherings similar to the one in Waimea, Wednesday where two, or three sites collectively gather for a group activity.
Miyasaki said this year’s summer enrichment program had 760 children registered throughout the island.
The students were shephered by a corps of 130 workers, the bulk of whom are students, either in high school, or home from college. An additional 10 adults are involved in the summer program, Miyasaki, a graduate of Linfield College with a degree in psychology, said.
One of the new positions in the program is the inclusion specialist, filled by Natasha Arruda, who was accompanying Miyasaki on a site visit.
“This is a new position, this year, working with children who have disabilities,” Arruda, who graduated from Chaminade College with dual degrees, psychology and elementary education, said.
She starts her new job as a fourth grade teacher at Island School in a few weeks.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
