KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Zaren Kilia, 5, plays with parents Clement, left, and Wendellynn Kilia. Clement and Kilia earned competency-based diplomas last month from the Youth Employment Program.
Wendellynn Kilia dropped out of eighth grade because she was pregnant and bedridden. Program gives
students new life11 people will get
high school diploma
equivalents tonight
By Rosemarie Bernardo
CORRECTION
Saturday, March 1, 2003» People between the ages of 16 and 21 may apply for the Youth Employment Program. An article on Page A4 yesterday about the program at Susannah Wesley Community Center said applicants may be up to 21 years old.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
rbernardo@starbulletin.comThen she was busy caring for her son, Zaren, after doctors discovered he had a liver tumor a month after he was born.
After her son recovered and was old enough for day care, Kilia inquired about classes at Farrington Adult Community School; however, the night hours made it difficult for her to attend.
A community school teacher suggested she enter the Youth Employment Program at the Susannah Wesley Community Center in Kalihi, which offers day and night classes.
Now, after a year in the program, the 19-year-old Kilia has a competency-based diploma -- the equivalent of a high school diploma. (Her husband, Clement, who also dropped out of high school, went through the program, too, and received a diploma.)
"If you have the will to do it, then you can do it," said Kilia, who plans to enroll in nursing school after her second child is born in May.
The Kilias are among the 11 students who are the first graduates from the program. A graduation ceremony, with Comedian Frank DeLima as the keynote speaker, will be held at 6 tonight at the Susannah Wesley Community Center.
The program, which began in January last year, has more than 110 students in its current enrollment. Most of them come from the Kalihi-Palama area. Applicants may be up to 21 years old.
"There are a lot of kids that don't make it in a classroom setting. We offer a different setting for the kids," said Stanley Inkyo, the center's youth services administrator.
"They get a lot more individual attention," Inkyo said.
Teacher Kaleo Iwasaki said students include teen mothers, former gang members and others.
"These kids want to be here. They know this is their last chance. You only have one second chance," Iwasaki said.
Students attend classes twice a week and usually graduate in about a year, officials said. The program offers flexible schedules, allowing students time for work and school.
Students follow the curriculum offered at Farrington Adult Community School: occupational knowledge, government and law, health, community resources and consumer economics.
Requirements include 100 hours of community service or work for 100 hours, Inkyo said.
Call Peter Velasco, program coordinator, at 847-1535 for more information.
