{"id":214572,"date":"2025-04-25T15:11:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T01:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=214572"},"modified":"2025-04-30T09:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T19:30:17","slug":"kapiolani-cc-culinary-wccc-kids-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/25\/kapiolani-cc-culinary-wccc-kids-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Kapi\u02bbolani CC<\/abbr> culinary graduates serve inspiration at women\u2019s correctional center"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Culinary graduates, trained through Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr>\u2019s program offered at WCCC<\/abbr>, prepared lunch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Six women at the Women\u2019s Community Correctional Center (WCCC<\/abbr>) who recently earned their certificates from Kapiʻolani<\/span> Community College\u2019s Culinary Arts Program<\/a>, helped create a day of connection and celebration on April 5, preparing and serving lunch and desserts for incarcerated mothers and their children during the center\u2019s first Kids\u2019 Day event of 2025.<\/p>\n

The culinary graduates worked alongside Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Chef Instructors Lee Shinsato, Dan Wetter and Sheylen Say to prepare a menu that featured focaccia bread cheese pizza, chili cheese flying saucers and musubis. Their sweet offerings included scones, cheesecake brownies, apple turnovers, snickerdoodles and chocolate croissants.<\/p>\n

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Chef Shinsato and Chef Wetter, back, Chef Say, in yellow, culinary graduate and volunteer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The women were so excited and eager to use their newly learned skills at this event,” said Shinsato. “Inspiring and showing future culinary students that there is a purpose behind learning and moving forward in life was a major factor in participating in this event.”<\/p>\n

Hosted by WCCC<\/abbr> and Wellspring Covenant Church, the Easter-themed Kids\u2019 Day welcomed 10 mothers, 19 children, and 11 caregivers to the Maunawili Cottage courtyard for crafts, games, and family time. Mothers and children decorated eggs and bunny-shaped cookies, played games, and participated in a festive Easter egg hunt filled with toy eggs, candy, and raffle tickets redeemable for toys.<\/p>\n

“Events like this help strengthen the bond between mother and child,” said Director Tommy Johnson of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “Kids\u2019 Day could not be possible without our dedicated staff at WCCC<\/abbr> and community partners.”<\/p>\n

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Scones prepared for WCCC<\/abbr>\u2019s first Kids\u2019 Day event of 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The women who helped to prepare the Kids Day meal received their Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> culinary certificates in December 2024 during a special graduation ceremony<\/a> at WCCC<\/abbr>, in front of more than 30 family members and supporters. <\/p>\n

Shinsato added, “The women\u2019s attitudes and capacity for learning are second to none. Once they figure out that food and hospitality are what make Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> special, they start to realize that these new skills will be the new foundation for success in their lives.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> grads help incarcerated moms and kids bond through food and shared hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[184,377,63,71],"class_list":["post-214572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-culinary","tag-culinary-arts-program","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t