Academies of Kauai

One Island One Future

Developing
School and Industry
Partnerships on Kauai

The Academies of Kauaʻi

The Academies of Kaua’i is the first unified complex academy model in the Hawaii Department of Education.  It brings together Kauai’s three public high schools with industry and business partners through its intermediary, The Kaua’i Economic Development Board.  Its purpose is to provide access to grant funders and business partners and to equitably distribute resources to support each high school in their academy development and in the delivery of programs and services.

Kauaʻi Career Exploration Fair

The inaugural 2019 Freshmen Career Exploration Fair commenced on Monday, October 23rd. 710 students from Kapa’a, Kaua’i, and Waimea high schools were in attendance. Industries representing the health, business, natural resources, arts and communications, industrial engineering & technology, and public & health services were set up in the Grand Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Resort & Spa, eager to field questions from the sea of students.

During the short morning, students were released with a “workbook/passport” where they had the opportunity to meet and discuss the path leading to their desired field.

“Everyone taking part is participating in support of your success,” Josh Uyehara, Vice President of Hartung Brothers Inc. and naming sponsor said to students. “This event provides a glimpse of the exciting possibilities that await you, and the steps you can take to lay the foundation for the future.”

Many of the people representing the companies and organizations are former students who are working together to build a 21st- century economy.

See what our business partners had to say

Neil Young
Neil YoungSystems Engineer
General Dynamics Mission Systems
Read More
“The Freshman Academy Career Fair was great and felt like a step forward to more active engagement with our high school students from across the island. It was a strong cooperative effort that was apparent from curbside loading/unloading to table setup to our excellent MC. As big as the event space was, we filled it. Most of all though, the effort showed in interactions with the students themselves. Students came prepared with appropriate interview prompts and thoughtful follow-up questions. It was especially good to be able to engage students that might not be actively thinking of our field (engineering) and see them consider how it might impact their other career choices. Our engineers came back excited and we have already brainstormed activities and engagements for next year’s fair.”
Micah Finnila
Micah FinnilaHuman Resources & Business Administration Manager
Hartung Brothers Inc.
Read More
“Hartung Brothers was thrilled to have been invited and a participant of Kauai’s first Career Exploration Fair. The event was very well organized, our staff were greeted in the parking lot by a group of volunteers who offered assistance with our booth setup. We received a warm welcome packet and throughout the event we were offered delicious snacks, beverages and lunch was catered as well, very nicely done. It was wonderful to see Kauai’s business community fill the Grand Hyatt Ballroom – fantastic business turnout and you can still hear the buzz of excitement that filled the ballroom. As for the students and their engagement, this was the highlight of the event for us (including the MC who was the icing on the cake), the students were very well prepared, each approached our team with professionalism, smiles, firm handshakes and the majority of students asked detailed questions about our business and what we expect from our employees. We ended the day on a high note with five students expressing their desire to intern with us in the summer of 2020 or 2021. This career fair exceeded our expectations and was a fantastic investment of our time and resources – we strongly feel that this event benefited the students of Kauai even more. Fantastic event and we look forward to participating in this event again in 2020.”