HILO, Hawaiʻi — As Hilo prepares to welcome the world for the Merrie Monarch Festival, Hawaiʻi Community College is highlighting its Associate in Arts in Hawaiian Studies with a concentration in hula—a program deeply rooted in the legacy of revered native Hawaiian kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole.
Aunty Edith Kanaka‘ole’s philosophy: “Teach all who come to learn.”
By: Simplicio Paragas
After raising a family and building a decades-long career in the restaurant industry, Jerilyn “Jerry” Kanakanui decided it was finally time to pursue a lifelong dream: go to college. Getting to the classroom, though, was a daunting process.
As a mother of six who had never attended college, she remembered previous attempts where she tried to navigate the complex web of registration and financial aid, only to back out thinking, “Oh, no, it’s not for me.”
HILO, HI (March 27, 2026) – Hawaiʻi Community College will bring together community members, alumni and partners for its first-ever E ʻImi Pono: A Celebration of Excellence fundraiser on April 18, highlighting the college’s role in supporting students and strengthening Hawaiʻi Island.
The event will run from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the I Ola Nō Ke Kino Dining Room (Building 382) on the Hawaiʻi CC Manono campus and is designed to highlight the breadth of programs that serve Hawaiʻi Island—from workforce training and career education to lifelong learning opportunities.
Backyard Monkey owner and TEAM program alum Justin Barrios gives back to the program that shaped his career, strengthening pathways for local conservation and forestry students.
By: Mitchell K. Dwyer
HILO, Hawaiʻi — Justin Barrios, owner of the Hilo-based land care and tree services company Backyard Monkey, has established the TEAM Program Fund at Hawaiʻi Community College, supporting students in the Tropical Forest Ecosystem and Agroforestry Management (TEAM) program that helped launch his career.
Hawai‘i Community College has received the full seven-year reaffirmation of accreditation, recognizing the institution's ongoing commitment to academic quality, institutional effectiveness, and continuous improvement.
The reaffirmation reflects the collective efforts of faculty, staff, administrators, and students throughout the accreditation review process.
Hawaiʻi Community College faculty, staff and students are helping revive the traditional place names of Hawaiʻi Island through a growing series of bilingual geographic maps that honor ancestral knowledge and strengthen community connection to the ʻāina (land).
Hawai‘i Community College has selected Douglass Shipman Adams as the new Director of EDvance Continuing Education and Training. Adams brings experience in military service, law, public administration, and nonprofit leadership, along with a longstanding ties to Hawai‘i Island.
Chris Ibarra’s journey from student to teacher is one fueled by perseverance, passion and a commitment to his community. The Hawaiʻi Island native graduated from Konawaena High School in 2000 and completed the two-year automotive program at Hawaiʻi Community College in Hilo in 2002, under instructors Ken Shimizu and Harold Fujii.
Today, Ibarra is giving back by teaching the next generation of mechanics through a partnership that he helped to establish between the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (DOE) and Hawaiʻi CC–Pālamanui.
Hawai‘i Community College’s Auto Body Repair and Painting Program—the only auto body program in the University of Hawai‘i Community College system—carries on a proud legacy of craftsmanship, innovation and career readiness that began in 1966.
The program, which has graduated almost 1,000 technicians, is helping to sustain Hawaii Island’s transportation trades community.
