Students Get a Sneak Peak at Hospitality Industry Through Lens of Development Program
“Students from across Oahu spent the day in Waikiki learning the ins and outs of the hospitality industry as part of LEI day, or Leadership, Exploration and Inspiration.
“We are going to learn about Hawaii tourism and we are going to go behind the scenes and see what it’s like to run and manage a hotel,” said Queenie Kamana, a freshman from Kamaile Academy.
The free workforce development program hand picked students from ten Oahu schools with the hope of inspiring them to start planning their career path.
“We hope that they walk away first and foremost with confidence to know that they can reach whatever dreams they want,” said Julie Morikawa, from ClimbHI.
“I wanna give back to Hawaii and I wanna go off to the mainland, but I wanna still be living here and working here and it would be a good career to go into,” Waialua High School senior Katrina Magno said.
Volunteers from the University of Hawaii and leaders in the hospitality industry served as mentors to guide the students during their one day program and career fair.
“A lot of these kids are coming from economically challenged backgrounds; many of them are from fourth generation welfare families, so it’s a great program to hopefully break that trend,” Morikawa said.
And after the one-day experience the non-profit host organization ClimbHI will continue to provide the students with career support.”