May 29, 2013 | Community
Young artists are being asked to add some pizazz to the front and back panels of new electric vehicle quick-charging stations being installed at Queen Kaahumanu Center. Sponsored by Hitachi and with assistance from Maui Economic Development Board, the art contest is open to Maui County students in the 6th to 12th grades. Deadline for submissions is June 1.
Artists can choose to create either one design that will go with both front and back panels or do two complimentary designs — one for the front and one for back. The front panel is 13.5 inches wide and 24 inches high. The back panel is 13.5 inches wide and 65 inches high. Artwork will be featured on the charger panels as a waterproof applique. The artwork medium needs to be graphic design — Illustrator or Photoshop. The submission format must be Adobe Illustrator EPS or Photoshop PDF, high resolution, 300 dpi.
Artwork should be original and positively represent Maui’s community, environment and clean energy. Examples of the charging stations can be seen near the main entrance parking lot at Queen Kaahumanu Center. Submissions should be emailed to Lesley Bristol at Bristol@medb.org.
Digital submissions are preferred, but mail or delivered submissions can be sent to Maui Economic Development Board, attention Lesley Bristol, 1305 N. Holopono St., Suite 1, Kihei 96753. The submission should include the student’s name, school, grade and contact information. Winning images will be announced June 15 at the Queen Kaahumanu Center. Winners will earn cash prizes worth $1,000 for first; $500 for second; and $250 for third. For more information, call Lesley Bristol at 875-2332.
May 22, 2013 | Education, Innovation
Baldwin High School Robotics Club members achieved their best season in six years, through hard work and community support, according to adviser Gary Suter. “We have a lot to improve on, but we learned that we can hold our own at the national level,” Suter said. As Hawaii’s representative to the FIRST Robotics Competition held in St. Louis, Mo., Baldwin was seeded 12th out of 100 teams in its pool, a spot that took them to the verge of competing at the highest national level.
Competitors in FIRST Robotics were given six weeks to design, build and program robots that weigh up to 120 pounds. The robots perform various tasks to earn points. In this year’s game, robots scored points for shooting Frisbees in or on various goals. They climbed rungs on a pyramid-shaped structure. Suter served as the adviser for Baldwin’s 22-member club. Eight students traveled to compete in the national contest. Senior Software Engineer Bob Brem of Boeing Company assisted with mentoring the students. Looking ahead to the 2014 contest, Suter said his students could use the expertise of a mechanical engineer as well.
Suter said he’s grateful to have Brem and Boeing, for their support, as well as Maui Economic Development Board, which helped make up a cash shortfall for team travel expenses. Family, friends and other individuals chipped in as well. “The community really stepped up for us. We could not have competed nationally without support,” Suter said. “MEDB made a huge difference.” MEDB provided more than $5,000 in support from the Ke Alahele Education Fund. Suter said the purpose of competing in robotics is to promote and advance high-technology skills. “The students get to apply science, math and engineering in robotics. It’s a real pressure cooker, but it’s also a very, very real world experience for them,” he said.
May 15, 2013 | Education
Shannon Rowe, a 1996 state auto mechanic champion and national runner-up, pours his time and energy into creating a new line of skilled students. “The ones who succeed are the ones who work hard and put a lot of time into it,” Rowe said. He and his Maui High School seniors Mitchell Borge and Lawrence Paet are heading this summer to the 2013 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition in Dearborn, Michigan. The competition fosters young people’s interest in the automotive industry through a nationwide contest that provides scholarships, tools and awards along with an experience that could help shape their future careers.
After 12 years as an auto mechanic at Valley Isle Motors, Rowe followed his retired teacher and mentor Dennis Ishii to teach auto mechanics at Maui High School. Through a county grant administered by Maui Economic Development Board, Rowe — who holds top level industry certifications — teaches and then coaches with the support of Ishii, who serves as a mentor partner. “It’s a unique situation. If we didn’t have the grant, the Maui High program would not have continued at this level today or it would have been severely diminished,” Rowe said. Under Rowe and Ishii’s mentorship, they’ve produced four state champions in the last five-and-a-half-years. The student auto skills contest is “a small portion” of what Rowe does. “Really it is more about producing skilled students. Hopefully they go on and make a career out of it and if they don’t, at least they know something about fixing cars,” Rowe said.
May 8, 2013 | Education
A Hana School project is helping students get in touch with ancient Native Hawaiian navigational practices while cutting their teeth on cutting-edge technology. The “Never Lost” project’s first phase is a blog-based curriculum in which students use the Internet to track the voyaging canoe Hikianalia, the sister ship of Hokule`a, as it makes the second leg of its maiden voyage from Tahiti to Hawai`i. The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s website will host the blog and data exchange. Supported by the MEDB Ke Alahele Education Fund, students will develop science, technology, engineering and math skills as they take astronomical observations and use Hawaiian techniques for marine navigation.
Teacher Paulo Burns said he used the $5,000 Ke Alahele grant to purchase 10 Nexus tablets. “The students are using the tablets and really enjoy the ease of searching on the Internet and using some of the apps such as Google Sky,” he said. With the technology in place, students next year will monitor the Hikianalia’s voyage. “We will be monitoring their blogs as they travel and communicating with them via the tablets,” Burns said. “We will ask questions and analyze the data that they will be pumping out.” That data is expected to include waypoints, water temperature, wind direction and water salinity. With more than 80 percent of Hana school’s enrollment having either Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian descent, the project will teach students the navigational practices of their ancestors.
Paulo Burns, teacher at Hana School
Burns said he is “very grateful for MEDB supporting our students in Hana and the technology is currently being used to better their education as 21st century learners.” The 2013 MEDB Ke Alahele Education Fund Dinner & Auction will be held Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Grand Wailea Resort. For more information, call 875-2300, or visit www.medb.org.
May 1, 2013 | Education
Geanell Bernardo
Students in the Focus Maui Nui Youth Alliance got a taste of government at work as they testified at budget hearings before the Maui County Council. “It was an amazing experience,” said Baldwin High School freshman Chelsea Kau. “It went pretty fast, just a few minutes but I felt good, like I was doing my part to make a difference in my community.” Senior Geanell Bernardo said she learned a lot about what it takes to advocate for funds. “The County Council members were really nice. At first, I found it nerve wracking, but then I got comfortable testifying in front of them,” Bernardo said.
Both girls asked for continued program funding. Youth Alliance members attend monthly events during the school year to explore and gain a greater understanding of key components in the Maui community. They also complete service projects, all coordinated by Maui Economic Development Board. “It’s both educational and enjoyable,” Bernardo told County Council members about the Youth Alliance. “In a way, this program has changed me. Without this experience, I wouldn’t feel like I could be a leader and make a difference in our community.”
Chelsea Kau
Youth Alliance Coordinator Willow Krause said the program is dedicated to promoting leadership and community awareness. “I am proud to see the students confidently express the positive effects that the Youth Alliance has had on their lives such as building self-esteem, meeting students from all over Maui Nui and learning to look at our island community in a whole new way,” Krause said. Kau added that aside from the Youth Alliance, she would like to see the County allocate more funding for programs that overcome drug addiction, educate high school dropouts, and support families in job and educational training opportunities. “It was really interesting to hear what’s going on in the county and to see what our community needs,” she said.
Apr 24, 2013 | Community
Mandy Woulfe
When news broke that Hawaii ranked as best for work environments in the country, Human Resources Manager Mandy Woulfe expressed excitement. “It all goes back to doing the work you enjoy doing,” Woulfe said about why our state may have scored an overall 71.1 in a recent Gallup Poll. “People here look for the positive side. … They’re happy to have a job. They feel blessed and they want to do the best they can at their job,” said Woulfe, a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and president of the Society for Human Resource Management Maui Chapter.
Gallup Poll announced this spring that Hawaii had earned No. 1 for highest overall well-being in the nation. The state also scored the highest for emotional health with a positive score of 83.6, life evaluation with a score of 57.2 and work environment with a score of 54.1. Woulfe, who works at Honua Kai Resort & Spa and has 15 years in the field of human resources, said she believes Hawaiian values and overall positive attitudes by Maui employees contribute significantly to positive work environment ratings. Managers, in return, share and value their employees’ attitudes and efforts, and together the two take pride in their work. She said employee turnover, which is low in many Hawaii companies, affects job stability and security and results in an overall pleasant atmosphere at the workplace. “When you’re in an organization that doesn’t have a lot of turnover, you tend to really like where you work and it shows in what you do.”
The Society for Human Resource Management is the world’s largest association devoted to human resources. SHRM Maui represents more than 100 HR professionals on island. The group’s next program, which is open to the public, is set for 9-11:30 a.m. April 30 at the Kahili Golf Course Nahele Ballroom. For more information, go to www.shrmhawaii.org or contact Woulfe at mwoulfe@honuakai.com
Apr 17, 2013 | Education, Stemworks
The Hawai’i STEM Conference will be held on April 19-20, 2013 at the Wailea Marriott. Over 300 STEM/Service Learning students, teachers, parents, community and business leaders will gather to celebrate their work over the past year, share stories and meet other STEM/Service Learning students from different islands. For many, it is their first experience at a regional technology conference complete with breakout sessions, software competitions, a formal awards banquet, and exhibit presentations. It will be an excellent opportunity for students to get the latest software training, and compete against other teams in challenging, but fun software competitions.
Over the two days, software training sessions will be held in the following areas for students — 3D CAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Web Design, Game Design, Digital Publishing, Cyber Security, Videography, GIS/GPS, Leadership, Gaming, and Voyaging. We are pleased to announce that some of these training sessions will be led by industry professionals from Google, National Geographic, SketchUp, Esri, and the Searider Foundation!
The primary goal of this STEM conference is to inspire and challenge our Hawaii STEM students to become creative, intuitive, adaptable learners who can solve unpredictable, real-world problems.
The 2013 Hawaii STEM Conference is sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board’s Women in Technology program in partnership with the County of Maui and the State Office of Career and Technical Education.
Apr 10, 2013 | Education
An aquaponics project at Maui Preparatory Academy is challenging students to learn on several levels and grow in some unexpected ways. Funded with a $2,000 grant from Maui Economic Development Board Ke Alahele Education Fund, the project is not just about growing plants in nutrient-rich water. “This builds confidence in my students to ask questions and investigate,” environmental science teacher Dr. Kathleen Ireland said. The project came about after Ireland challenged her 15 11th- and 12th-grade students to come up with a hands-on, environmentally conscious activity.
The students and Ireland agreed to pursue the aquaponics project suggested by 12th-grader Kauaiola Wendt. Their proposal features the construction and maintenance of an aquaponics system using both traditional and solar power to run the pump and care for carrots and fish. The project involves using both manual and digital tools to design the project while also researching how Hawaiians had a heavy reliance on sustainable agriculture organized within ahupua’a, which were ancient Hawaiian land divisions running from the mountains to the sea. Ireland said that, for a while, she had to take the lead with finding money to fund the project and then creating a timeline for students to follow and complete. Since then, the students have taken over.
Dr. Kathleen Ireland
Maui Prep’s high school students, with the help of younger middle school-aged students, are building an aquaponics project on their campus. The project’s main objectives will be met when a useful pamphlet is prepared, plants are growing, fish are thriving and every student can describe the system and how it was created. Ireland said her students are fully engaged. “That’s why I teach,” she said. “You start the fire and keep it fed.” She cannot predict whether the experience will result in inspiring new scientists or aquaponics farmers. “I just want to build responsible citizens, and I think that’s what’s happening here,” she said.
Apr 3, 2013 | Education, Innovation
Four years of robotics lessons have turned Maui High School senior Cheska Liwag into a wanna-be engineer armed with lifelong skills. “It was a good experience,” Liwag said after returning from the FIRST Robotics regional contest in Long Beach, California. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology.” Maui High had the best record of the three Hawaii teams competing during spring break 2013. The team known as #2443 Blue Thunder won 11 matches and reached the semifinals in a contest featuring 65 high school teams, including two others from Hawaii.
The robotics team spent six weeks prior to the competition building a 2-1/2-foot robot mostly from metal and completing it just hours before the regional contest opened. “I was kind of surprised. I didn’t think we were going to do as well,” she said. Liwag joined the Maui High robotics club as a freshman and worked to become a leader on this year’s design team and then a captain guiding the drivers of the robot designed to throw frisbees and climb a 90-inch-high pyramid at a 68-degree angle. ““Being on the robotics team, I learned a lot of life skills like teamwork and communication, skills that we’ll use even outside of school,” Liwag said.
Cheska Liwag
Liwag said she sees herself after graduation enrolling at the University of Hawaii Maui College and then transferring to UH Manoa to earn a bachelor’s in engineering. She said the 30-member robotics club this year has been a family away from home. “It gave me this safety of another family and people I could talk to anytime about anything,” she said. The Maui High robotics team sought public support to pay for its project and travel expenses for the 10 members traveling to the regional competion. Maui Economic Development Board awarded its robotics team a $5,000 grant from the Ke Alahele Education Fund.
Mar 27, 2013 | Community, Small Business
Chad Goodfellow
Whether it’s building communities or battling fires, Goodfellow Bros has maintained an ongoing commitment to social responsibility, according to President Chad Goodfellow. “Our mission is to be the contractor of choice by our clients, employees and the communities in which we live and work,” he said. You’ve likely seen Goodfellow Bros trucks and equipment working on any given day throughout the Hawaiian islands. The 90-year-old company takes charge of projects valued in hundreds of thousands of dollars, most recently constructing a portion of the Lahaina bypass and erecting buildings in the Kahului business park.
Employees work hard to help improve their community, volunteering in a variety of projects. Amongst the most memorable for Maui Regional Manager Ray Skelton, a 24-year company veteran, is his crews’ willingness to support local firefighters battling nearly inaccessible brush fires in South Maui. Goodfellow Bros has on many occasions provided bulldozers and trucks and the manpower to operate them. “If we are really to be corporate citizens who want to help out, we need to respond and work for our community,” Skelton said. At the fires, Goodfellow Bros follows the lead of the Maui Fire Department as they battle blazes. “We work with them at their direction. This is our opportunity to give back,” he said.
Aside from responding to fires, Goodfellow Bros employees have actively participated in local fundraising campaigns, volunteered at schools, served in nonprofit causes and coached in youth sports. Skelton remembers providing labor to build a playground at Kalama Park in Kihei and picking up trash and abandoned vehicles in a Community Work Day project. Goodfellow adds: “By partnering with vital nonprofit organizations, we actively enhance the communities for which we live and work. Inherent to our culture is a sense of pride in making a difference, and we encourage employees to get involved in the causes that touch their own lives.”
Young artists are being asked to add some pizazz to the front and back panels of new electric vehicle quick-charging stations being installed at Queen Kaahumanu Center. Sponsored by Hitachi and with assistance from Maui Economic Development Board, the art contest is open to Maui County students in the 6th to 12th grades. Deadline for submissions is June 1.
