FRUITIONS ETUTORING “HEADSTART” SUMMER PROGRAM
Fruitions eTutoring is an online institution that strives to assist students of all grade levels with their academics, specifically focusing on the subjects of math, reading, science and test prep (SAT, GRE, GED, MCAT, etc.). Fruitions eTutoring provides students with one-on-one virtual tutoring sessions with exemplary and experienced tutors who help students with either their classwork or homework and also provide supplemental resources and worksheets relating to the topics students are focusing on in their classes, as needed. Each session is typically one-hour long, and scheduling is flexible.
For the Summer of 2023, from June 2023 – August 2023, Fruitions eTutoring will be launching its “Head Start” Summer Tutoring Program. This program is individualized to each student, and the students will still be able to meet virtually, one-on-one with a consistent tutor for each of their sessions. Unlike its usual sessions during the school year, which primarily assists students with their homework/classwork, the Head Start Summer Program sessions aim to provide relevant supplemental materials, worksheets and workshops to propel students ahead and prep them (thus giving them a “head start” to their school year) for their upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
Families are strongly encouraged to register by emailing fruitionsetutoring@gmail.com or calling/texting 808-232-1460 by Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Regular tutoring sessions for students who are taking summer school courses will still be available during this time, as well.
2024 HUI O LAULIMA CULTURAL GRANT APPLICATIONS
Hui O Laulima is pleased to announce that applications for the 2024 Cultural Grant are being accepted. Grants and scholarships have been awarded by HOL since 1984 and total more than $224,000. Hui O Laulima is a women’s organization promoting the Okinawan culture and true to its spirit of “giving a helping hand,” has continued to perpetuate and preserve its culture by awarding grants to individuals and groups who share the same desire.
A few of the criteria for selection include:
- Interest in the study, perpetuation and promotion, including goodwill projects of Okinawan culture (music, dance, art, or other forms of artistic expressions), language and history.
- Leadership ability
- Community service
- Financial need
- Overall potential for success
- Clarity of goal(s)
- Two letters of recommendation from individuals other than relatives.
All prospective grant projects/activities should take place from January through December 2024. Deadline for submission is Monday, July 31. The 2024 Cultural Grant application contains the complete list of the criteria for selection. Please direct inquiries and/or requests for application to Committee Chairperson Karen Fuse at 808-735-4523 and kcfuse@hawaii.rr.com.
PRUDENTIAL EMERGING VISIONARIES PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIP
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Kylee Hamamoto was named a 2023 Prudential Emerging Visionary for her inspiring commitment to improving the lives of others. The 17-year-old Punahou School student was one of 25 Prudential Emerging Visionary winners who received a $5,000 award and an invitation to the 2023 summit for her work in addressing the challenges of a changing world, with an all-expenses paid trip with a parent or guardian to Prudential’s Newark, New Jersey. The three-day summit was held Saturday, April 22 through Tuesday, April 25 and gave winners the opportunity to receive coaching, skills development and networking opportunities with Prudential employees and other young leaders.
Hamamoto created WeGo! Hawaii to foster strong and independent female leaders and create a community space for young women to pursue changemaking. While in eighth grade, Hamato created online meeting spaces for women professionals to speak to students; in her freshman year, she created a club at Punahou, where girls could inspire one another through social media, podcasts, articles and videos to explore their passions in a safe space. In her sophomore year, the WeGo! Program became a certified non-profit and expanded to Tökyö and Osaka, creating both virtual and in-person opportunities for the young women to support each other.
The initiative operates through a four-step process where participants discover their passion, build confidence under the guidance of the WeGo! Leadership program and ultimately create a venture. Then participants pay it forward, working with the next cohort of young women leaders. Hamamoto’s project has helped more than 200 students create 50 projects across the United States and Japan.
Hamamoto was inspired to create the program by her father, who founded the Young Women’s Club at Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani Middle School (formerly known as Central Middle School) and would also take her on car rides whenever she felt upset and would say, “we go.”
“These two words meant: ‘support,’ ‘love’ and a simple ‘everything is going to be alright,’” Hamamoto wrote on the WeGo! Website (wegohawaii.org).
Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes young people ages 14-18, whose fresh perspectives and innovative solutions address pressing financial and societal challenges in their communities.
“The goals of our Emerging Visionaries program reflect Prudential’s overarching purpose: to make lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world,” said Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey. “We applaud all of our honorees for their commitment to improving the lives of others and creating inclusive and thriving communities.”
Prudential Financial, Inc., a financial wellness leader and premier active global investment manager, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees help to make lives better by creating financial opportunity for more people. Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability expertise and innovation for more than a century.
Emerging Visionaries is a collaboration between Prudential Financial and Ashoka, a leading social impact organization, with support from the Financial Health Network, an authority on financial health and longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation.
Ashoka is the largest global network of leading social entrepreneurs — individuals with new ideas to systemically address the world’s biggest challenges and the entrepreneurial skill to transform those ideas into national, regional and global social impact. Over 40 years, Ashoka has supported more than 3,600 social entrepreneurs in 90 countries with solutions addressing society’s most pressing issues. Ashoka’s vision is a world in which Everyone Is a Changemaker — a society that responds quickly and effectively to challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem.
The program is an evolution of Prudential’s Spirit of Community Awards, which, over 26 years, honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers.
To read about all of this year’s Prudential Emerging Visionaries, visit prudential.com/emergingvisionaries.
For more information about WeGo! Hawaii, please visit wegohawaii.org.
100TH IB TOSSES GENKI BALLS ON EARTH DAY
On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, members of the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Clubhouse gathered to toss their handmade Genki Balls into the Ala Wai canal near the Waikiki-Kapahulu Library.
Two weeks prior, members of the veterans’ clubhouse gathered at their headquarters and shaped 490 Genki Balls, a mud-based mixture of clay soil, rice bran, molasses, water and EM-1 (effective microorganism) solution. After the balls dried out, it was ready to be tossed into the Ala Wai to help digest sludge and clean the canal’s murky waters.
Members of the Genki Ala Wai Project spoke to the volunteers about the importance of their efforts to help improve the environment and waters of the Ala Wai.
Hawaiian kahu and official reigning 2023 Lei Day Queen on O‘ahu Leilani Kupahu-marion Kaho‘ano said a few words of wisdom while the attendees bowed their heads in prayer.
Following the prayer, the 100th IB Veterans Clubhouse volunteers reached into boxes and buckets to throw hundreds of Genki Balls from various points at the Ala Wai shoreline. Their efforts helped contribute to the Genki Ala Wai Project’s goal of tossing 300,000 balls into the Ala Wai and making the canal swimmable and fishable by 2026.
For more information about Genki Balls and how you can participate, please visit genkialawai.org.
SOCIAL MEDIA BILL FOR KIDS INTRODUCED
U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced new legislation to help protect children from the harmful impacts of social media. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media apps and would require parental consent for keiki 13 through 17 years old. The bill would also prevent social media companies from feeding content using algorithms to users under the age of 18.
“The growing evidence is clear: social media is making kids more depressed and wreaking havoc on their mental health. While kids are suffering, social media companies are profiting. This needs to stop,” said Senator Schatz. “Our bill will help us stop the growing social media health crisis among kids by setting a minimum age and preventing companies from using algorithms to automatically feed them addictive content based on their personal information.”
“As a mom, nothing is more important to me than preserving the next generation’s opportunity to live the American Dream. Unfortunately, that Dream is turning into a nightmare for families across our country. This bill is a bold, critical step to protect our kids, secure their future, and empower parents,” said Senator Britt. “There is no doubt that our country is facing a growing mental health crisis and a deteriorating culture of violence. Children and teenagers across our nation are dying, families are being devastated, and our society is withering. The only beneficiaries of the status quo are social media companies’ bottom lines and the foreign adversaries cheering them on.”
The senators say the United States is facing a mental health crisis and no group is affected more than adolescents, and especially young girls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 57% of high school girls and 29% of high school boys felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, with 22% of all high school students reporting they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the preceding year. One area that requires immediate action is the clear link between social media and poor mental health. Social media companies have known about this link for years, and independent research has confirmed it: social media usage is a cause for the mental health epidemic.
From 2019 to 2021, overall screen use among teens and tweens (ages 8 to 12) increased by 17%, with tweens using screens for five hours and 33 minutes per day and teens using screens for eight hours and 39 minutes. Studies have shown a strong relationship between social media use and poor mental health, especially among children. With this clear evidence, the U.S. Surgeon General has warned that 13 is too early for social media use and suggested that ages 16, 17 or 18 may be too early as well.
The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would:
- Require social media companies to undertake rigorous age verification measures based on the latest technology, while prohibiting companies from using age verification information for any other purpose
- Prohibit children under the age of 13 from using social media, consistent with the current practices of major social media companies
- Prohibit social media companies from recommending content using algorithms to users under the age of 18
- Require a guardian’s permission for users under 18 to create an account
- Create a pilot project for a government-provided age verification system that platforms can choose to use
- Provide the FTC and state attorneys general authority to enforce the provisions of the bill.
