Aloha Maui County Council.

Thank you for the funds that you have provided to MEDB and STEM education for our islands keiki.

We are so fortunate to have had both our children attend and benefit from STEM classes at Pukalani Elementary School. The classes that our children have been able to attend range from graphic design, movie making, to robotics and coding. There is a high demand and waiting list to get into these classes and it is no wonder.

The education that our children have received from the STEM program is invaluable to our family and the islands future. They have gained technical knowledge but more importantly teamwork, community service, and skills that will follow them for the rest of their lives.

I have seen my children's confidence in themselves sky rocket, their ability to set goals and advancement with speaking to adults is amazing. This program provides an education far beyond what we ever expected possible, not to mention the positive friends and relationships that they have made along the way.

Thank you for your consideration. Please continue to fund this incredible program for our Islands future.

Aloha,
Jason and Christina Wehner

Aloha Committee member and Council members,
I am a 10 year resident of Kihei, a surfer, a snorkeler, and a boater. I cherish our ocean and its reef systems. We MUST do all we can to insure the health of our coral reefs and restore the vibrant health of a once pristine coral reef. The health of the ocean and our health depend upon it. I am also in favor of regaining control of the sediment runoff of the watershed up slope of the harbor. We need to stop killing the coral.
I strongly support the retrofitting of waste water treatment facilities at Ma'alaea harbor area that Councilmember King proposed. The time is right for this project and it will be feasible and timely to implement. Please give the $9M+ plan your immediate and FULL support.

Please replace Māʻalaeaʻs 24 outdated injection wells with a smarter ocean-friendly solution. Thanks Ralph and Carolee Jones

Aloha Honorable Council Members, I am a strong supporter of the proposed Ma'alaea Wastewater Reclamation System! This is an opportunity to help reverse the pollution due to the injection wells along that coast and restore the coral there.
Mahalo nui loa, Sulara James (Kihei).

Good evening honorable council members,

My name is Aaron Omuro. I am an eighth-grader at Maui Waena Intermediate School, and I am testifying on BFED-1 in support of Maui Economic Development Boardʻs Economic Development Grant under the Maui County Office of Economic Development. STEMworks is very important to me. For the past two years, I have been a part of this program, including last year, when it was virtual the whole year. But that did not stop me from learning so much over the past two years. Because of this program, I have learned how to shoot video with a Canon camera and with a Lumix video. I learned how to use Adobe software, and how to program and build robots through our robotics program. Because of this program, I, along with many others have found what their passion is. This program has allowed me to learn so much that the public schools don’t teach in class. I have created so many friendships with people that I probably wouldn’t be friends with unless I had the program.

This year was our program trying to find its groove again, and continue to be successful. But along with us trying to keep a good media and robotics program, our STEMWorks program merged with our school’s Uplinks program. This in turn added 17 new clubs. We would not be able to continue this work without funding from our council. But adding 17 clubs did not stop our progress in the two biggest clubs: media and robotics. With those two clubs, we won numerous awards, and competed in various competitions, all leading in some success. For example, in our robotics competition, one of our teams finished 2nd overall. In one of the biggest competitions for our program, the STN (Student Television Network) national convention, we got 2 first places, one second, one third, and one honorable mention for our work. Instead of travelling to Long Beach, the location of this year’s competition, we had our own staycation in the beautiful Haiku House. We all believe that being able to compete at that house allowed us to bring home our awards.

In my first full in person year with this program, I did more than I could’ve hoped for. I attended the STN National Hybrid Convention, where, as stated earlier, we won 5 awards in 9 competitions. Overall, we were the best middle school in the state. Along with this, I took part in creating the yearbook. With all the changes with our school, one of them was having our program do the yearbook. That took so much time and effort to complete, and was the most time consuming of all the things I did this year. I also was a part of all three Hiki No challenges, where we took home first and second place, with the third challenge awaiting results. Our program also took part in the STN Fall Challenge, where we got an award in every category we entered. Along with this, we submitted videos to the Olelo 808 Digital Storytellers competition, and got 3 first places. Lastly, we submitted videos for the STN Fall Nationals, and were awarded a first and third for feature story, and a first for show open. All of this success was more than any of us could’ve hoped for.

Even though I will not be a part of this program in the coming years, I would want all of the 7th and 6th graders, who still get to have this wonderful program, to be able to do more and learn more than I did in my three years. Next year, our program is already planning on going to Long Beach to experience their first fully in person STN National Convention. But, that, along with many more video competitions we enter in, and our robotics program, which we can hopefully go to states with, all need money. The next generation of young minds will be rooted in the STEM field. The best way, I think, is to have this wonderful program become even more, and teach even more people than in my time with it. Hopefully, you will take into consideration the importance of this program, and put us in your funding.

Thank You For Your Time and Consideration

Aaron Omuro, 8th grader

Good morning honorable council members. My name is Capriana Nozaki and I am testifying on BFED-1 in support of Maui Economic Development Boardʻs Economic Development Grant under the Maui County Office of Economic Development.

I am now a 7th grader at Maui Waena Intermediate School and this is my second year in the STEMworks program. This program introduced me to many opportunities and still teaches me different skills as well as giving me a chance to make lots of friends. Now that we’re face to face, we won many awards like the second place and first place awards in Hiki nō and the first place news magazine, second place in anchoring, third place in music video, and an honerable mention in feature story for STN, but we wouldn’t be accomplish all of that without the help of MEDB.

Since MEDB has funded us throughout the year, I was able to learn even more about storytelling, creating feature stories and I was even given an opportunity to teach children about this process. I was able to do all those things while having the support of my friends and my advisor by my side. Right now with covid, I was unsure of what was ahead but with the funding of MEDB, I didn’t need to worry. I know that MEDB will help the STEMworks program survive and it can allow future students to get involved in this program and have the same experiences that I did. I can strongly say these moments were the best times I’ve ever had and I hope I can share it with others.

We have shown that whatever situation we’re in, we still come out strong and present our best work, and that’s all thanks to MEDB.

Please support MEDB for me, my club, and future generations to come.

Good morning honorable council members. My name is Jennifer Suzuki and I am testifying on BFED-1 in support of Maui Economic Development Boardʻs Economic Development Grant under the Maui County Office of Economic Development. I am the media teacher and coordinator of the STEMworks AFTERschool Program at Maui Waena Intermediate school.

MEDB has given so much to my students and to my program. We have been fortunate to have been partnered with MEDB and the WIT team for over 10 years. When we started, there were less than 20 students involved in media and robotics after school, now we have over 100 students enrolled, who attend regularly, and they are all able to participate in real life STEM activities on a daily basis. They run a weekly 20 minute show that airs on our school’s closed circuit, create the daily broadcast, make the school’s yearbook, create computer games, animations, commercials, build robots and drones, and rebuilt the school garden.

None of this would be possible without the support of Maui Economic Development Board. But really the most important things that MEDB does for my students is give them confidence to compete on a national level, the opportunity to learn from industry experts, and exposure to industry standard programs and equipment.

Over the years I have witnessed my former students go on to become doctors, engineers, computer programmers, teachers, but mostly I have seen them become confident, competent young adults who come back and give back to the program. MEDB helps us to facilitate a program that becomes a family and encourages mentorship and creates a pipeline that leads them successfully to high school and beyond.

My students are capable, brilliant, hardworking, and amazing, and because of MEDB, they are given the chance to show it.

Please support MEDB for me, my club and the students of Maui.

Jennifer Suzuki

Testimony on BFED-1 in support of Maui Economic Development Boardʻs Economic Development Grant under the Maui County Office of Economic Development.

To Whom it may concern,

My name is Shannon Rowe and I am an Automotive Technology teacher at Maui High School. I am writing to you today to ask that you please continue to support Automotive High school programs in Maui County through Maui Economic Development Board. This grant has been a catalyst for maintaining strong high school Auto programs at not only Maui High School, but also Baldwin High, King Kekaulike and Lahainaluna High Schools. Most recently this grant has helped to obtain a new teacher at Baldwin High School. (Baldwin was in danger of losing their program due to not having a qualified Auto Teacher). As high schools across the state continue to see declines in their Industrial Arts classes, with the help of this grant and MEDB Maui schools have been able to not only maintain, but also improve our Auto programs.

Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Shannon Rowe
Maui High School

Hi My name is Kaeo Oshiro and I am a student at Baldwin High school. Maui Economic board has helped us a lot. They helped us get back Automotive at our school. They helped us get tools which helps me as a student. I am unsure how long our program was down but thanks to MEDB we have it back. Thank you MEDB!!