Hawai‘i Community College (Hawai‘i CC) is a historic college serving the Big Island of Hawai‘i. It is part of the University of Hawai’i Community College System, which includes seven colleges spread over four of the largest seven islands of Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i CC serves its students at three locations: at Hilo, on the east (or windward) side of the Big Island; at Pālamanui, on the west (or leeward) side of the island near the city of Kona; and at Honoka’a on the northeast side of the island. The college was founded as a vocational school in 1941, became part of the University of Hawai‘i in 1970, and today serves over 2,000 students.
When visiting Hawai‘i CC, it is hard to ignore the physical beauty and majesty of the location. The college looks out onto two active volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, located above the rainforests in the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
The college embraces the traditional concept of Kauhale, or Hawaiian village. All aspects of the college including its students and staff and their families, and the broader island community make up an ‘ohana, or family. During my visit to Hawai‘i CC, I felt this spirit of ‘ohana deeply, and could see the college’s commitment to community. The chancellor of the college, Dr. Rachel Solemsaas, and her team of dedicated faculty and staff shared the importance of the college in the economic development of the island, as well as the opportunity for social mobility for the students they serve.
A prime example of the concept of Kauhale, and a foundational program at Hawai‘i Community College, is the Model Home Project, which first began in 1965 and continues to this day. For more than 50 years, students in construction trades programs at Hawai‘i CC, and in partnership with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, design, build, wire, landscape, and bless homes for Native Hawaiian families.
Scroll below to view pictures from past Model Home Projects
The project is a win-win, providing an affordable home for a local family while giving students an excellent education in construction trades.
Students in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction Technologies program design the home, which is then built from foundation to finish by students in the Carpentry and Electrical Installation and Maintenance programs. Agriculture students design and install the landscaping using native plants, Diesel Mechanics students maintain heavy equipment, and the Hawaiian Studies program leads a blessing ceremony where the house is given to the family that will make it a home.
“To see somebody get the house at the end is something special, and again for me the education was priceless,” said Matt Okuno, a graduate of the Architectural, Engineering and Construction Technologies program, who designed one of the homes when he was a student. “To go into class and to know that what you’re doing in class correlates directly to what you’re going to do in the professional field is as good as you can get education wise.”
More than 4,000 students have helped design and build Model Homes over the decades, and many of them have since become contractors and skilled workers supporting the local construction industry.
To learn more about Hawai‘i Community College, visit their website at http://www.hawaii.hawaii.edu/.
