ALU LIKE receives $248,500 grant
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded ALU LIKE $248,500 to provide employment and training for Native Hawaiian students, with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The awards are meant to encourage more Native Hawaiians to enroll in STEM-related certificate and degree programs, as well as provide mentoring and work experience. The emphasis will be on creating more opportunities for Hawaiian students, ages 14 to 24, to develop the skills needed for jobs in high-growth STEM fields, according to a U.S. Labor Department news release.
Public schools offer free breakfast
Free meals for children 18 and under are available at 63 public schools throughout the state this summer.
The Department of Education’s summer food program, Seamless Summer Option, is funded by the USDA to ensure low-income students have access to nutritious meals throughout the summer. To participate, at least 50 percent of a schools’s regularly enrolled students must qualify free or reduced lunch, and the school must offer a summer program. Meal recipients do not have to take a class to be served.
To find out which schools are participating and when they’re serving meals, visit www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/Health%20and%20Nutrition/2017SSOSites.pdf.
Searider Productions to have a new home
Waiʻanae High School’s award winning Searider Productions will have a new facility, thanks to $10.7 million in funding from the state Legislature.
The new enclosed complex will be located at Searider’s current location and will include a lobby, “makery” space, three classrooms, an office-conference room, a covered lanai and multi-purpose open courtyard.
“This is a dream come true,” said Candy Suiso, program director for Searider Productions. “We are growing in ways we never imagined. This new facility will provide for more space to expand our program as well as allow us to keep up with changing technology now and into the future. It will also be important for our early college programs in creative media.” The project will break ground in the second quarter of 2018.
Jamaica Osorio awarded Ford Foundation Fellowship
Jamaica Heolimemeikalani Osorio has been honored with a prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship to support the writing and defense of her dissertation “Aikāne, A Kanaka Maoli Moʻolelo Beyond Queer Theory: Unsettling White Settler Logics and (Re)membering Indigenous Desires.”
Osorio is one of only 38 individuals to receive the fellowship in the national competition, which provides a $25,000 stipend and networking opportunities, the University of Hawaiʻi announced.
“I think I’m most excited about collaborating with other fellows who share common goals and whose work I admire,” said Osorio. “I’m grateful to the Ford Foundation for providing resources (both physical and intellectual) that would not otherwise be available to us and that further our academic goals.”
Fellows were selected based on their scholarly competence and future potential as a scholar, researcher or teacher in higher education. Judges also take into account the ability to use diversity in teaching and learning. Osorio’s deep grounding in Hawaiian culture and practices is evident in her performances as a poet and musician, as well as in her activism. She has shared her art throughout Oceania on five continents, and at the White House.
Grants available for culture, conservation
The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority will be awarding grants for community-based events and programs that perpetuate Hawaiian culture and preserve natural resources.
The 2018 grants will be available through three HTA programs that enrich the experiences of residents and visitors alike: Kukulu Ola, Aloha Aina and Community Enrichment.
“How we celebrate the Hawaiian culture, protect our environment, and share our way of life in communities is key to Hawai‘i’s future and why we place such importance in supporting groups and individuals committed to these ideals,” said George D. Szigeti, HTA president and CEO. “These programs help guide how our communities embrace sustainability and uphold the qualities that make the Hawaiian Islands such a magnificent place to live and visit.”
Information sessions about submitting proposals will be offered throughout the state in July, with applications due by Aug. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
The applications are available online at www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/about-hta/rfps. For more information, contact HTA Procurement Officer Ronald Rodriguez at contracting@gohta.net or by phone at 808-973-9449.
 news briefs for July 2017.){kind=link}