John Nakata, a Kealakehe High School senior, was in the school’s automotive mechanics shop recently, reflecting on the time he’s spent with a cohort of fellow students the past two years, learning how to rebuild engines, take apart transmissions and other auto mechanics skills. 

“I’m going to miss this place, the environment, the people,” Nakata said.

Nakata is one of nine students completing a unique program that was a collaboration between Kealakehe High School and Hawai‘i Community College designed to place students on the fast track to automotive careers.

Note: This column appeared as part of the Kauhale News section in West Hawaii Today on April 8, 2021. 

Aloha, 

Hawai‘i Community College – Pālamanui and the University Center, West Hawai‘i have been at the current location in North Kona for almost six years after moving from Kealakekua. It’s been such a blessing to watch the connections  members of our community are making with our campus, sometimes in unique and unexpected ways. 

Construction projects at the Hawai‘i Community College – Pālamanui campus will significantly boost the student experience, academic programs and the ability to host campus and community events. 

The projects include renovating space to create a physics lab; adding an overflow parking area that is also a place for construction apprenticeship programs; and adding a large new covered outdoor space that will benefit the Culinary Arts program and give students a better place to congregate.

Andrew Hasegawa worked in tourism. He worked in various roles for one of the telescopes on Mauna Kea. Those were good jobs that provided solid experience, but he hit a “plateau,” as he described it, and knew he needed more education if he wanted to advance in his career. 

“I thought I really needed that next step, and that’s kind of how I started looking at Hawai‘i Community College,” Hasegawa said recently.

Students, staff and faculty at Hawai‘i Community College will soon benefit from a new scholarship and professional development opportunities thanks to an anonymous $1 million gift. 

Hawai‘i CC Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas said, “We are eternally grateful to the generous donor who is forever shaping the life trajectory of so many of our Hawai‘i Island residents by making a quality higher education affordable.”

Trina Nahm-Mijo, professor and department chair of social sciences, is retiring this spring after 43 years at Hawai‘i Community College. Though she’s ready to close the book on her Hawai‘i CC career, she said teaching never got tiresome or repetitive even after more than four decades.

“The students inspire me,” she said. “It was always new every semester even if it was the same classes, because the people are different and my style is to teach to the students’ individual strengths and characteristics, so it was always new for me.”

The Hawai‘i Community College Human Services program is proud to celebrate 33 years since its founding. 

In honor of its success, its instructors and its students past and present, we are pleased to announce the offering of the Human Services Program Virtual Conference. He Huliau No Ke Au Hou, recalling the past to inform the future, is a collective of faculty, students, alumni and industry professionals gathering to inspire the Hawai‘i CC Kauhale.