Front Row: Ash Danao, Lois Ajimine, student Lauryn Horiuchi, Marie Tabios-Montano, and Martha Villanueva Back Row : Ronnie Claveran, Anabelle Smith, Bliss Akeo, Diana Pai, Paul Horner, Gary Sirman, Imi Peterson, and Craig Duncan
By Marie Tabios-Montano and Ronnie Claveran
The Keauhou Beach Resort recently was honored to participate in the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center “Ku Ha‘aheo” program. The program’s goals are threefold:
- To provide learning opportunities for Hawaiian ‘opio (youth) to learn basic life skills though incentive motivation placement at various businesses.
- To provide an opportunity to participants to make positive changes in their lives through behavior modification, coupled with Hawaiian values, evidenced through the strengthening of the ‘ohana (family).
- To identify and retain appropriate mentors for participants whose values align with Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center.
For six weeks we mentored student Lauryn Horiuchi using the “E ‘Onipa‘a A ‘Eleu”- Learning Program. During Lauryn’s six-week program at our resort, she was able to work closely with the Front Desk, Accounting, Human Resources, Purchasing, Housekeeping, Maintenance, Food & Beverage, and Security. This gave her an enriching opportunity to learn about the many facets of our resort’s operations, as well as to work on interpersonal skills.
Each week she was evaluated on her progress in utilizing the behavior and attitudes, which were based on five Hawaiian values, outlined by the program. These are:
- Kuleana (Responsibility)
- Laulima (Working positively with others)
- Kupono (Attitude of enthusiasm)
- Lokahi (Unity)
- Ho‘omau (Achieving goals)
At the end of the program, Lauryn and other members of the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center had a pā‘ina (luncheon) at the resort to celebrate their accomplishments. At first, Lauryn didn’t think that she would enjoy working at a hotel, but by the end of her program, she told us that she loved her experience and that she was going to miss all of her new friends.
The Keauhou Beach Resort looks forward to working with Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center in the future!
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