The efforts to better prepare incoming freshman for the rigors of college paid off this summer with more high school students than ever attending Summer Bridge programs.

Dozens of high school graduates were on campus this summer to take part in programs that help smooth the sometimes jarring transition from being a high school graduate to college student. The transition was helped through four Summer Bridge programs that help students get acquainted with taking university courses, the campus and resources available to them. Additionally, high school students attended courses under a program operated under a partnership with the State Department of Education.

“It’s been exciting,” said Lokelani Kenolio, director of the , which hosted 48 Math Summer Bridge students. “It’s wonderful to have more students on campus.”

Summer Bridge programs typically are designed to enhance a student’s chances for success. At ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu, the Summer Bridge students are familiarized with different support services on campus and develop a level of comfort with faculty and staff.

Four bridge programs were offered during the , one of ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu’s signature programs that help local high school graduates get an early start on college life. Three of these were grouped under , a program aimed at helping incoming freshman from the Waiʻanae Coast. Additionally, there was a  for college freshmen that included a five credit college algebra course with embedded tutoring and peer coaching support services.

“There were many more Summer Bridge students this year because of extensive partnerships with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu’s Pueo Scholars and Kamehameha Schools,” said Melissa Saul, director of the Institute of Engaged Scholarship and project director of the .

Saul said ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu also has been working with local schools and Hawaiian charter schools to increase the college-going rates and college-readiness skills. This includes developing pathway programs focused on health careers, education and sustainable community food systems.

“The programs help students learn how to navigate college successfully and how to access services on campus,” said Saul. “We have found that students who participate in summer programs are more likely to attend college and be retained from their freshman to sophomore year.”

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—By Greg Wiles

The is offering a trio of summer programs designed to bridge the transition from high school to college for first-time college freshman from the Waiʻanae Coast.

With the , students receive experience, college credit and a $1,500 stipend for their participation in one of three programs: (Pathway to Pre-Nursing), (Pathway to Education and Sustainable Community Food Systems), or (Summer Bridge Program).

“These programs were formulated to deal directly with summer ‘melt’—when graduating high school seniors who apply and are accepted to college choose not to attend due to a variety of reasons, such as financial or familial obligations,” ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu Chancellor said. “Ke Ala Kauwela addresses summer melt by bringing these students on to the ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu campus to experience the benefits of college while receiving a stipend.

“A primary goal of ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu is to provide a wide-range of exciting opportunities to learn and discover. Our summer programs are an excellent way for students to explore career possibilities while being introduced to the college environment.”

Students gain access to ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu’s innovative academic programs such as its pre-nursing pathway or sustainable community food systems, with a curriculum focused on ʻOnipaʻa and place-based education. In E Holomua a ʻOnipaʻa, students build relationships with the campus community, become practitioners of Hawaiian cultural values and transform into role models for the Waiʻanae community.

For more information, visit the ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ West Oʻahu Summer Academy .

Priority application deadline:

• March 15, 2017—ʻIke Mauli Ola: Pathway to Pre-Nursing
• April 1, 2017—ʻIke ʻAi Pono: Education and Sustainable Community Food Systems
• April 1, 2017—E Holomua a ʻOnipaʻa: Summer Bridge Program

For more information on eligibility and application process please read the .

—By Leila Wai Shimokawa

Krystti Kim, a student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, always knew she wanted to go to college. But things definitely got more complicated when she found out she was pregnant, right after high school.

A program for welfare recipients called has helped her juggle her family, work and school responsibilities. And it is even having an impact on her 5-year-old daughter, Heizol.

“She sees me going to school, she sees me working, she feels that she can do the same,” explains Kim. “She feels that she wants to become what I become because she sees me doing it every day.“

The program helped Kim find work at the , which works perfectly with her plan of becoming an early childhood educator.

“I love kids. It just seems like I fit,“ says Kim of her job in child care. “They get along with me well and I just kind of grew a passion for it.“

Bridge to Hope is helping her realize that passion, and she’s not the only one. Across the , the program has helped over 500 students pursue their college dreams.

“Students participating in Bridge to Hope are low income, often single parents, most of them are women–97 percent of our participants are women–and they are driven and excited about pursuing education as a way for them to be able to support their families,“ explains Bridge to Hope ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ Systemwide Coordinator Teresa Bill.

With Bill at the helm, Bridge to Hope was established in 2000 to help people like Kim and the played a key role. They joined forces with community organizers and went to lawmakers to demand higher education opportunities for welfare recipients.

The result is a brighter economic future for hundreds of families.

“Without Bridge to Hope I think I really would be trying to shuffle school and work and my daughter and, I would be lost,“ says Kim.

ÌÇÐÄVlog¹Ù·½ Bridge to Hope online at .

A group of incoming freshman and sophomores at is learning how to make guitars and examining bacteria in poi. They are also working on a large mural that combines science and the kumulipo, or Hawaiian creation chant.

Along the way, they’re preparing for the rigors of college level classes and sharpening their mathematics skills all while learning that math and science can be fun.

“Most definitely,” said Aaron Adams. “Just the amount of experiences I gained, it’s priceless.”

Fellow incoming freshman Shyanne Humel agrees. “It opens up the first door to the academic part of college and I like that,” said Humel.

The students are talking about the Summer Bridge Program run by Kapiʻolani’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program.

During the six week long Summer Bridge Program the 65 participants spend their mornings in accelerated math classes to get them up to college level and their afternoons in fun, science or engineering related activities like making your own guitar.

“It teaches you how to study yourself and how to take care of yourself more than anything,” said Adams. “It works, it really does.”

“It taught me to pace myself,” said Humel. “I learned that you need to slow it down and it’s good. It’s also at KCC so now I know the campus and I can help my friends who are coming here.”

The program also incorporates science and math with Hawaiian culture and values, making it more relatable for many of the students.

“When you can relate to something, it makes it more fun,” said Melanie Keliipuleole, who will be a sophomore at Kapiʻolani. “And when people have fun, they get more into it and it’s just exciting. It gets you excited to learn and create.”

That is the STEM program’s ultimate goal, to get students excited about math and science.

“We learned about bugs and viruses and we learned that Listerine really doesn’t work,” said Humel. “I was shocked!”

Adams enjoyed making his own guitar. “It was my favorite part about this whole experience,” said Adams. “I play guitar. It just fits perfectly, just the process of making it was fun to say the least.”

Participants receive college credits and a small laptop computer upon completion of the program. They know firsthand that Kapiʻolani’s STEM Program is there to help, no matter what time of year it is.