{"id":1686,"date":"2016-11-07T13:34:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T23:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/workable-level.flywheelsites.com\/?p=1686"},"modified":"2016-11-07T14:34:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T00:34:18","slug":"have-no-fear-the-hookele-peer-mentors-are-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/07\/have-no-fear-the-hookele-peer-mentors-are-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Have No Fear, The Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors Are Here"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Lexus Yamashiro<\/a> | Staff Writer<\/span><\/h5>\n

Typically when students enter \u2018Iliahi, it\u2019s because they want lunch from Subway. But as they walk through those doors, have they ever wondered what those stairs to their right lead up to?<\/span><\/p>\n

Right above Subway is not only the office of the First-Year Experience Program but also home to the Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors. Keith Kashiwada, a <\/span>professor of Speech and Communication<\/span>, had come up with the idea of peer mentors back in 2009. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Rob Yamashita has been the Ho\u2018okele Student Success Peer Mentor Coordinator for about two years. (Photo by Lexus Yamashiro)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors were funded under a federal grant that paid for about five years for the program. When the funding came to an end, the program began to fall apart and lose peer mentors since there was no money to fund them. <\/span><\/p>\n

From this point Robert Yamashita, the Ho\u2018okele Student Success Peer Mentor Coordinator, had retained four peer mentors with his FYE budget and asked them if they wanted to let the program die out or if they wanted to restructure it. The four peer mentors chose to restructure their program. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since their restructuring, the Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors were able to regain more mentors and have thrived.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors) are there to bridge the gap between students at KCC, faculty to students, and faculty to staff,\u201d Yamashita said. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many things that Ho\u2018okele Peer Mentors are trained to help students with. Here are some of the tasks that students can get help with or ask questions about:<\/span><\/p>\n