Apr 7, 2016 | Education
Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) Ke Alahele Education Fund stresses the importance of students having the ability to use a variety of technologies effectively to be career-ready. Recognizing the critical nature of this preparation, MEDB has worked vigorously throughout its history to enhance education and training in the community. The Ke Alahele Education Fund recently sent teachers from Haiku Elementary School and King Kekaulike High School to attend the 2016 Google Education Summit at the University of Hawaii Manoa; MEDB’s Women In Technology project also provided funding. The Google Apps for Education workshop (GAFE) presented a core group of productivity applications that Google offers to schools and educational institutions. The function of these applications is to strengthen skills and unlock access to dozens of other collaborative tools supported by Google such as Docs, Drive, Calendar, and others. Google’s educational apps allow students to work from any device on documents and projects and can be easily accessed with an internet connection.
“The two day summit provided a wealth of information,” said Barbara Yoshida Potts, technology coordinator at Haiku Elementary School. “We learned that with GAFE, a teacher is provided with a toolbelt of innovative technologies to inspire students in this ever-changing world. We are excited to use the concepts learned at the summit to further develop and improve our science, technology, engineering and mathematics program here at Haiku Elementary.”
“Inspired by the workshop’s opening keynote by Jamie Casap, Chief Education Evangelist at Google, teachers were encouraged to rethink the traditional educational model,” said Emily Haines-Swatek, career and technical education coordinator and MEDB’s STEMworks™ teacher at King Kekaulike High School. “GAFE helps teachers to make important shifts in their instructional practices to increase student engagement and achievement. Teaching students the ability to communicate effectively, appropriately and professionally, through technology, gives them a necessary skill in whatever field they choose,” she explained. “Kekaulike teachers went on to spend the two-day workshop learning about Google productivity tools, ways to bring cultural experiences to the classroom and even how to become trainers themselves.”
The GAFE workshop was an awesome experience! It provided innovative ways to integrate technology to create a more interactive and hands-on educational experience, which were presented by a highly motivated and knowledgeable team of instructors.
John DiMartino, Teacher, King Kekaulike High School
Mar 31, 2016 | Education, Environment, Sustainability
The 2016 Maui Energy Conference, presented by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), focused on the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), its implications for Hawaii’s energy future and the customer. The two-day conference, held at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center on March 16-17, was attended by over 300 participants, including nationally and internationally recognized experts in the field. “The event provided a platform where difficult and often contentious discussions can occur in an atmosphere of mutual respect and in-depth dialogue,” stated Frank De Rego Jr., Director of Business Development Projects at MEDB. “The issues around Hawaii’s 100% renewable energy portfolio standard are not only technologically complex, but have social, economic and cultural impacts as well.”
“Consider MECO’s pilot program to pay for ‘behind the meter’ energy storage on Molokai,” said Conference Program Committee Chair Doug McLeod. “Such a proposal would have been inconceivable in the first year of the Maui Energy Conference. The conference and its rebroadcast to the larger community via Akaku has raised the education level in our community so that MECO’s customers are presently asking for services like these home batteries.” Battery systems store the energy when nature makes it available and allows us to use that energy when we need it. “Storing solar energy is a key to enabling Hawaii to meet their 100% renewable energy goals,” said Boris von Bormann, CEO of sonnenUSA. Bormann went on to say that he envisioned a world where clean and affordable energy is available to all by networking systems of rooftop solar coupled with battery storage – an option that is already occurring in Germany.
“The customer is an integral part of a 100% renewable energy future,” said Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric’s VP of Corporate Planning and Business Development, as the conference discussion turned to the potential impacts for the community of achieving a 100% RPS. For example, can everyone afford the cost of renewable energy? How do we balance the benefits of renewable energy for those households and businesses who cannot afford rooftop solar systems? The conference attracted a broad audience: 21 percent of participants traveled from the mainland or internationally to attend, with 37 percent from Maui and 42 percent from Oahu and other neighbor islands.
The Maui Energy Conference explored the challenges and opportunities in achieving 100% of our electrity generation through renewable energy sources.
Frank De Rego Jr., Director of Business Development Projects, MEDB
Mar 25, 2016 | Community
Still shrouded in mystery, autism is one of the fastest growing disabilities in the United States. Recent statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 68 children have an autism spectrum disorder. The term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of impairment or disability that children can have. The misunderstandings, false assumptions and myths surrounding autism can be overwhelming for families who must navigate its complicated world. “Many parents do not know where to turn,” said Howard Greenberg, founder of the Maui Autism Center in Kihei and father of a son with autism. Greenberg explained that many children can be helped to improve their situation and many, who have gone through years of therapy, have lost their diagnosis and gone on to graduate from college. “I have personally seen children who could not talk when they came to the Autism Center two years ago, who are speaking in full sentences today,” he said. “We teach children here in a different way because our kids learn differently. We emphasize the importance of working with the disorder, not against it.”
Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. Characteristics include restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, and impairment in important areas of daily functioning. “Each child should be provided with individualized treatment programs,” said Dr. Catherine Heard, Clinical Director at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc., an organization with global outreach. Through quarterly visits to the island, Dr. Heard provides behavioral service consultations for the Maui Autism Center, offering the latest scientifically proven applied behavior analysis to patients and their families. “We excel at creating a safe nurturing environment where children can work on their core deficits and build confidence in their social behaviors,” said Denise Greenberg, executive director of the Maui Autism Center.
“We offer a trained staff, top-notch autism experts, individualized curriculum, speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, counseling behavioral support and parent training with quarterly parent-staff workshops. At the Maui Autism Center many lives have been changed for the better as little gains become big accomplishments.” For more information or free consultation email: autismmanagement@gmail.com or call (808) 879-4111.
This year at the Maui Autism Center the children have planted a community garden and the produce grown is then donated to help feed the homeless. This is a heartfelt service to the whole community as one group helps another right here in Kihei.
Howard and Denise Greenberg, The Maui Autism Center
Mar 18, 2016 | Small Business
The recent Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) workshop, “Getting Started For Startups: The Basics of Sound Human Resources Management,” brought home once again the importance of building a strong foundation for business success. More than 20 entrepreneurs, small business owners, and business development professionals attended the HR workshop at MEDB’s Malcolm Center in Kihei which focused on a business’s most important asset – their employees.
“Our Business Development team appreciates the overwhelmingly positive response to the seminar,” said Frank De Rego Jr., Director of Business Development Projects at MEDB. “MEDB works diligently to provide startup, emerging-growth, and established businesses with the tools they need to be successful. The panel for this seminar represented some of the best state and local professionals in the human resources management field.”
“It was great being exposed to companies here on Maui that I can hire to perform many of my HR-related functions and reporting requirements,” said participant and new business owner Pamela Norris. “I attended this class to learn the new requirements that are unique to operating a 2016 business in Hawaii. This was very helpful and my questions about HR compliance were all answered.”
The expert panel members shared on aspects of Hawaii State law that included basic payroll regulations, tax liabilities, withholdings, and FICA-FUTA-SUTA taxes. Health care discussions focused on the Affordable Care Act, including an explanation of group versus individual health care plans plus the ins and outs of Prepaid Health options. The HR training covered recruiting, hiring and terminating an employee, plus the effects of Workers Compensation. A professional in the field of law, specializing in representing employers, explained the best practices to avoid lawsuits. Finally, wage and hour issues such as minimum wage and overtime, insurance requirements, and how new labor law legislation will impact business, rounded out the workshop.
“The breakout sessions following the seminar afforded the opportunity to learn more about the businesses represented by the other attendees,” said Norris. “A great deal of networking and valuable sharing of information took place in those sessions. Once again, MEDB sponsored a training session that meets the needs of the small business community here on Maui.”
In general, compliance with HR laws is not understood by employers. The MEDB workshop gave participants insights to increase their profitability and decrease their liability in the workplace.
David Yarbrough, Panel Member
Mar 10, 2016 | Education, Stemworks
Students from Pukalani Elementary School’s robotics teams competed in the invitational Hawaii State VEX IQ Robotics Championship held last month at the Hawaii Convention Center on Oahu. The Imagineer teams placed highly in Driver and Programming Skills and won 1st place in the State for their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Research Project. By winning the Research category and placing 3rd and 4th in the state programming rankings, Pukalani’s Imagineers received invitations for both their teams to compete at the VEX IQ World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky in April 2016.
“The first-place project, The Dangers of Cell Phone Radiation, demonstrated how cell phones work and most importantly how radiation is emitted from the phones,” said Jasmine Domingo, Pukalani Elementary STEM Coordinator. The other team tied for 2nd place in the Teamwork Challenge for their project on “The Benefits of Video Games” which explained how video games improve physical skills with additional advantages for students with disabilities.
“The team’s overall success has been the culmination of a strong commitment at Pukalani Elementary towards STEM education,” said Domingo. “The last two years the Imagineers have been fortunate enough to receive grant money from Maui Economic Development Board’s Ke Alahele Fund to start and grow the robotics program.”
This year the students worked on VEX IQ Challenges that featured all aspects of making a robot which included programming the robot to run autonomously and driving the robot remotely. “I helped design, build and program our robot to pick up balls, dump them in the basket and go up the ramp,” said 5th grader Alden Johnson. “We built over 50 different robot designs and over 20 different claw designs until we found one that worked. Being part of our Pukalani robotics team has taught me that when you work with others and stick together you can do amazing things!”
The Pukalani Elementary team is seeking sponsors to help ensure that every student will be able to take part in the April 2016 VEX IQ World Championship in Kentucky. If you would like to sponsor the team, contact Jasmine Domingo at (808) 573-8760.
Part of the Hawaii state VEX IQ Robotics Championship is the autonomous programming skills challenge, in which students write code to control the robot’s behavior. It was here the Pukalani Imagineers have had much success, and are currently ranked in the top 20 elementary teams in the world and 3rd and 4th highest in Hawaii.
Jasmine Domingo, Pukalani Elementary School STEM Coordinator
