The are helping residents across the islands train and provide pathways for in-demand careers—and the nation is taking notice.

The UH Community Colleges has received top national honors: a gold 2024 Paragon Award from the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR). The award for Best TV/Video Advertisement (Series),was announced at NCMPR’s 50th anniversary national conference in March. The UH Community Colleges campaign rose to the top, out of more than 1,570 entries from 210 colleges nationwide.

The winning video series shines a spotlight on non-traditional CTE programs that help Â鶹´«Ã½ residents launch rewarding careers while staying close to home. Featured programs include:

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Produced in partnership with Honolulu-based marketing agency Olomana Loomis, the videos are part of a larger effort to elevate the visibility of UH’s high-demand career pathways.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious NCMPR Paragon Award,” said Lesli Yogi, director of marketing and communications for the UH Community Colleges. “This recognition is a testament to the hard work, creativity and dedication of our seven campuses’ marketing teams, whose talent and passion brought these student success stories to life.”

Credentials of value

From healthcare and welding to information technology and construction, UH Community Colleges offer a wide range of CTE programs that prepare students for high-growth careers right here in Â鶹´«Ã½. These programs provide credentials of value—meaning students graduate ready to work in fields that are hiring and paying competitive wages.

“Our members are doing the important work of ensuring both prospective and current students know of the potentially life-changing opportunities available at their institutions,” said Virginia Moreland, NCMPR president. “The winning entries demonstrated the incredible creativity, commitment and resourcefulness of community college marketing professionals throughout our organization, and we are so proud to recognize them with the Paragon Awards.”

NCMPR’s Paragon Awards are the only national competition honoring excellence in marketing and communications exclusively among two-year colleges. The organization supports more than 1,600 members from nearly 500 colleges in the U.S. and Canada.

Members of the ʻohana, including alumni, faculty, staff and community members celebrated the college’s 75th anniversary on Saturday, November 7 while also raising money to support student scholarships.

The Â鶹´«Ã½ CC Alumni and Friends Scholarship Fundraiser Dinner and 75th Anniversary Celebration attracted support from the community in the form of ticket sales and donations, and the proceeds will help students achieve their dreams of a college education.

“As we celebrate Â鶹´«Ã½ Community College’s 75th anniversary, it is wonderful to see the community support for our students,” said Â鶹´«Ã½ CC Chancellor Noreen Yamane. “For 75 years we have helped students gain the skills and knowledge they need to lead successful lives, but it would not have been possible without such a strong community as our foundation.”

Â鶹´«Ã½ CC was founded in 1941 as the Â鶹´«Ã½ Vocational School with five trades programs and 183 students. The college has continually evolved to meet needs of employers and students, and Â鶹´«Ã½ CC now offers 26 academic programs and has more than 3,000 students enrolled in Hilo and at the new campus in Kona named .

With programs such as natural science, auto mechanics and early childhood education, students can prepare to enter the workforce right after graduation or easily transfer to one of the other University of Â鶹´«Ã½ campuses, including the adjacent .

In the last 23 years alone Â鶹´«Ã½ CC has awarded more than 10,000 degrees and certificates, and in the last two years the college has awarded a higher number of degrees and certificates than ever before: 685 in 2014 and 643 in 2015.

The fundraiser on Saturday featured speeches, a silent auction, a vintage fashion show and the recognition of an alumnus who enrolled the very first year the college opened in 1941.

Â鶹´«Ã½ CC awarded Matthew Y.P. Chow an honorary certificate during the event. Chow, an 89-year-old Hilo resident, enrolled in the welding program from 1941-1943. He never received his certificate, however, because a curfew imposed from sunset to sunrise as a result of World War II prevented a commencement ceremony from taking place, he said.

“It brings back a lot of memories, old time memories of my attendance at Hawaii Vocational School back in 1941-43,” Chow said.

With his welding skills, Chow worked for two years at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard during World War II. After the war he obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology and worked for more than 20 years as a biology teacher at Hilo High School.

Â鶹´«Ã½ CC Alumni and Friends will use the proceeds of the fundraiser to create an endowment that will provide student scholarships.

“Â鶹´«Ã½ CC Alumni and Friends is committed to helping students who may not otherwise be able to afford a college education,” said Robert Yamane, the President of Â鶹´«Ã½ CC Alumni and Friends and a professor at the college. “Mahalo to everyone who donated. Your gift will make a difference in the lives of our students, their families, and our entire island.”

—By Thatcher Moats

Preparing high school students for the workforce was the theme of a special recognition ceremony that honored 53 high school students entering grades 10-12 and recent 2015 graduates from 21 Oʻahu high schools who successfully completed the Summer Program.

“The goal of our summer program is to ultimately give our students the chance to experience a little bit of the college campus,” explains Kenton Short, Construction Academy Program coordinator. “Students get the opportunity to get hands on training in various trades, giving them the opportunity to make informed choices, so that they can steer their own futures.”

The students were admitted into Honolulu CC for the four-week summer program. First-time students were exposed to four different career industries (carpentry, welding, sheet metal, and architectural, engineering and CAD technologies). Sixteen students are returning for their second, and in some cases, third summer with the program. These students participated in an advanced curriculum featuring carpentry and welding.

The Construction Academy Summer Program started with 12 students in 2008 and has grown over its seven-year existence. The summer experience is an extension of the Construction Academy that is in approximately 16 high schools across the state during the academic year filling the gap of industrial education in the public schools. The program was established through a grant funded by the and continues to operate solely on legislative funding.

“With the future workforce projection in the construction industry, we are able to provide career exploration that will eventually lead students to Honolulu CC to obtain a certificate or degree in a specific career or technical program eventually providing an entry point into the workforce,” Short shares.

For more photos, go to the .

—By Billie Lueder

Welding instructors from around the state and from the mainland convened for a WeldEd workshop at . The welding instructors attended the weeklong professional development workshop organized by the , better known as WeldEd.

WeldEd’s mission is to expand the number of high-skilled welding technicians as the country faces a major shortfall in the next several years. Jeffery Lane, an assistant professor of , said the skilled workforce shortage in welding between now and 2019 is estimated at 308,000 workers.

“So what we’re trying to do with these modules is train the instructors so they can train the students and get them into this line of work,” said Lane, who is the regional representative for WeldEd and organized the workshop. “A lot of the shortfall is because baby boomers are retiring.”

Growth in wind and solar energy development, plus the boom in shale gas, has added to the demand for welders, said Lane. In addition, some manufacturing is returning to the United States after outsourcing.

There were nearly 20 instructors participating in the Hilo workshop, brushing up on their knowledge of weld quality and inspection, welding codes, specifications and safety. Five WeldEd participants are from Oʻahu, seven are from the Big Island, one is from Ohio, three are from California, one is from Washington State and the instructor is from North Dakota. Of the Â鶹´«Ã½ participants five were from Â鶹´«Ã½ CC and four were from Honolulu CC.

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