07/26/2024
Set in beautiful Hawaii Nei we close one more season on the Girls Hawaii Youth Impact Program. We had 75 graduating girls who engaged in various team building and leadership opportunities alongside their military mentors and UH Wahine Basketball team.
The girls were given some inspiration and influential advice from numerous female guest speakers, highlighting their personal journeys to success in their own lives and careers. Lt Colonel BJ Itoman, former UH Wahine Basketball player and current reserve pilot, joined us with Major Susan Weeks to highlight their journeys in sports throughout their academic career; both making the decision to become pilots in the Air Force Reserves. Jake Shimabukuro, world renowned ukulele player, came in to share his story with the girls. He faced adveristy growing up in Hawaii to a single mother, and his story resonated with many of our young girls. While we had the privilege of hearing him play ukulele, we also got to experience his handmade portable soundboard, really tying together our STEM programming and technological influence. Our most impactful speaker, Lt General Laura Lenderman, Deputy Commander of the Pacific Air Forces, highlighted the 3 L’s: “Listening with a full heart, Loving my teammates and my organization, and Lifting up those around me”
The girls enthusiasm and dedication carried over into their testing. They were exposed to performance language through English Language Arts teacher, Joe Lileikis who artfully ties together sports short stories with STEM and science to help his fellow DOE teachers build a sport focused curriculum that teaches the science, technology, and math behind basketball. The results of this curriculum produced an average 81% increase in performance in testing on English, Science, and Math.
The UH Wahine Basketball team hosted the program, and brought many exciting learning experiences, on and off the court, for the girls. An emphasis on continuing to build confidence through off the court activities, the team hosted two Improv classes, two yoga classes, and a collaboration with the Hawaiian Studies Department. These activities helped to build confidence and comradery off the court, which shined through during their basketball showcase to their parents. However, the dance battle was probably one of the biggest highlights for many of the girls and allowed many whose primary focus of expression may not be sport, to really find comfort and confidence amongst their peers.
During our closing program, we celebrated the girls for a variety of accomplishments, ranging from Excellence in STEM and leadership, to perseverance and on-court performance. SGM Canady and his team of military mentors worked alongside UH Wahine Basketball Head Coach Laura Beeman and her team of Basketball players and support personnel to celebrate the development of these girls’ dreams, highlighted by their dream cards and their engagement throughout the program in order to develop their skills on and off the court. The Hawaii YIP Program Director, Ziggy Ramil, closed the program with a final message for the girls to put their dream cards close so they are encouraged to keep dreaming big and working towards those big dreams.
