Chaminade University of Honolulu

Service Learning

Nursing Students Offer Preventive Care

The Parish Health Program allows students to apply what they’ve learned

Every Sunday, a group of Chaminade nursing students gather at a Honolulu church to educate parishioners on the importance of health and nutrition. Established two years ago, the University’s Parish Health Program has provided access to healthcare screenings to thousands of churchgoers.

And earlier this month, the program expanded to a third parish: St. Anthony Kalihi.

At St. John the Baptist Church, which also participates in the program, Father Jaroslaw Z. Skrzypek said offering the one-on-one preventive health outreach has proven a support system to parishioners.

“It fosters a sense of community and shared values around health and well-being” said Skrzypek.

Likening the parish program outreach to clinical rotations—but at a church instead of a hospital—Associate Professor and Parish Health Coordinator Sandy Bourgette-Henry said students benefit from the real-world, hands-on experience and making connections with community members.

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“The best way to reach the community is to go where they gather,” Bourgette-Henry said.

“In this case, we go to the various parishes.”

Katrina “Nina” Jackson ’25 said giving her time, care and attention to parishioners has allowed her to sharpen her skills and also has proven personally rewarding. “This gives us an opportunity to get out into the community and see what residents’ needs are,” she said. “I think this program is important because it allows us to educate people about such health topics as nutrition, CPR and physical activity.”

A grant from the Marianist Sponsorship Ministries Foundation grant helped launch the innovative program in 2022, funding health promotional items like pedometers, blood pressure monitors, cuffs and gift cards for local farmers markets as incentives to maintain healthy habits.

Kaiser Permanente, through the Catholic Care Coalition, has also contributed to the program’s success.

Students enrolled in NUR 401 are charged with offering services through the Parish Health Program. Along the way, they also learn about public health theory, health promotion, and relationship-building.

In addition to aligning with Chaminade’s service-focused mission, the program also supports the University’s efforts to promote UN Sustainable Development Goals, including a focus on wellbeing.

When the Parish Health Program is at St. John the Baptist Church on Sundays, students screen about 600 parishioners across three Masses.

NUR 401 Public Health students visit St. John the Baptist Church in Kalihi as part of Chaminade's Parish Health Program. Pictured are, from left, standing, Victoria Ayala, Nina Jackson, James Kightlinger, Kaulana Navares and Jasmin Clayton.
NUR 401 Public Health students visit St. John the Baptist Church in Kalihi as part of Chaminade’s Parish Health Program. Pictured are, from left, standing, Victoria Ayala, Nina Jackson, James Kightlinger, Kaulana Navares and Jasmin Clayton.

They take blood pressure readings, offer nutritional recommendations, and discuss diabetes management and cardiac care.

Last semester, they even screened for food insecurity among parishioners at Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in Kalihi. Bourgette-Henry said students distributed 150 food vouchers on one particular Sunday.

“We were trying to determine if food insecurity is correlated with high blood pressure,” Bourgette-Henry said. “I know that the American Heart Association wants to do this again in the future, and so do we.”

A former cardiac nurse with 30 years of experience, Bourgette-Henry noted that heart disease is the leading cause of death in Hawaii. She said the old model of healthcare waits for patients to present with symptoms. The new one, aligned with the Parish Health Program, “focuses on prevention.”

“The students are really eager to teach parishioners how to take care of themselves,” Bourgette-Henry added. “All participating students find this program fulfilling and beneficial to their future as nurses.”

Provost Speaker Series

Kupu co-founder founder John Leong shares his entrepreneurial journey

After finishing his degree at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, John Leong had three options: to accept a job offer in New York City, to enter seminary school or to return to Hawaii. He chose the latter, deciding that he wanted to come home to lead conservation efforts. And that was 25 years ago.

As the guest speaker of the Provost Speakers Series, Leong shared his arduous journey that started when he and his wife, Julianna, established Pono Pacific in 2000. The company had a sole mission to assist conservation managers and landowners with the monumental task of protecting Hawaii’s natural resources. It would eventually lead him to co-find Kupu, now one of the most impactful environmental leadership organizations in the Pacific.

“My call to return to Hawaii was strong,” Leong said. “If you’re created to do something, and if you don’t follow that calling, the world loses out.”

Hawaii certainly would have had Leong not adhered to his vision, one of three primary tenets that  he cited as being pivotal to his journey. The other two are character and moral fortitude. Growing up in one of the most isolated archipelagos in the world, Leong didn’t fully appreciate Hawaii’s environmental vulnerabilities. It was not until he participated in Chaminade adjunct professor Althine Clark’s youth conservation program—which provided an opportunity for Hawaii’s youth to make positive change and contribute to our islands’ long-term sustainability—did he see Hawaii’s environmental perils.”

John Leong shared his entrepreneurial journey that led him to establish Pono Pacific and Kupu.
John Leong shared his entrepreneurial journey that led him to establish Pono Pacific and Kupu.

“It gave me a sense of Hawaii’s challenges with the environment and our endangered species,” Leong said. “It gave me a sense of my kuleana to care for Hawaii’s natural resources, which was work that was under-resourced and an uphill battle at that time.”

With Pono Pacific, the Leongs sought to provide cost-effective natural resource management services, working with private and government land owners to activate working lands, create sustainable food systems, restore sensitive ecosystems, protect both endemic and indigenous species, protect vital watersheds, manage conservation lands, and repair, construct nature trails.

“We charged like $15 an hour, which yielded more like $2 in profit,” Leong said laughingly. “It cost more to do the work, but this was our responsibility. I remember once builidng a conservation fence line around a Big Island trail, hauling large jugs of water for miles, waking up early and finishing late; it was hard work for sure. I would get calls from my Wharton classmates—some of whom were working at JP Morgan—and they would ask me: “What is it that you are now doing?”

It was during that time on the Big Island that Leong came across the kupukupu, an endemic sword fern that would sow the seed for his next nonprofit enterprise with his spouse Julianna and best friend Matt Bauer. Together, the trio started Kupu in 2007, a local 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission “to empower youth to serve their communities through character-building, service-learning and environmental stewardship opportunities that encourage pono (integrity) with ke Akua (God), self and others.”

“When you do things of consequence, there are consequences,” Leong said. “But if you don’t do anything, then it’s inconsequential. Change doesn’t happen overnight nor is it linear, and you have to have the tenacity to move forward, to be the light.”

For four years, Kupu strove to establish what is now known as the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Hoʻokupu Center in Kewalo Basin. Seeking the support of community board members and approval from government officials, Leong and his team spent hours on end to secure land rights to a valuable piece of waterfront property. It would certainly be difficult and almost defeating.

“But I look back now and think, what would have happened had we just quit and given up?” said Leong of all the work and effort that was put into the Kakaako community center. “What if we had not listened to that little voice inside that kept saying ‘just keep at it,’ and instead listened to our anxieties and fears?”

Today, the center is also home to the Kupu Community Program, which prepares under-resourced youth for the workforce by providing them with life skills training, green jobs, volunteer opportunities and encouragement to consequentially impact their local communities through service. To date, the yearlong program has served thousands of Hawaii’s youth, who participate in significant and demanding work to rehabilitate Hawaii’s ecosystems and increase the sustainability of the ʻāina.

“We give them an ʻāina-based model upon which to build a common community,” Leong said. “We give these under-privileged youth a purpose and a pathway to lead a meaningful life.”

In the final minutes of his talk, Leong spoke of the importance of being selected as an Obama Foundation Fellow, and having the opportunity to spend time with Barack and Michelle Obama, who taught him that character is shaped by adversity, and to surround yourself by supportive people who push you “to become a better version of yourself.”

“The last lesson I want to share is this: that we’re just one part of a bigger body,” Leong concluded. “You have to have humility. We can only do our part, but it’s important that we do that part.”

Economic Lesson

Chaminade students teach Jarrett Middle School students about economics

Standing in front of 13 William P. Jarrett Middle School students, Chopper Correia ’27, Brayden Braga ’27 and Roselyn Macias ’26 started their lesson by asking the students what they knew—if anything at their age—about economics. Some boisterously screamed out “money,” while others yelled “business.”

“In preparation, we’ve outlined a lesson plan,” said Macias, studying her notes before the class began. “This is my first visit here so I’m not sure what to expect.”

It was the second for Correia and Braga, both freshmen Silversword baseball players and Business Administration majors. “We’ll cover such topics as price control and budgeting,” Correia and Braga echoed. “And we’ll play a little game with them because they can easily associate with playing games.”

Turning to the class, Braga posed a second question: Who has ever heard the terms micro and macro economics? One student asked aloud, “Does it have something to do with money and budget? ” Another fired back with “small and big.” Right, Braga responded to “small and big,” then simplified the terms by explaining that microeconomics and macroeconomics are related, but separate approaches to studying the economy.

Macias took Braga’s explanation even further by expanding the subject to cover the definition of price control, price ceiling and price floor. “Price control comes in two forms,” the sophomore Business Marketing major said. “A price ceiling keeps a price from rising above a certain level—the ceiling. And a price floor keeps a price from falling below a certain level—the floor.”

Roselyn Macias looks on as Jarrett Middle School students complete the task of creating their personal budgets.
Roselyn Macias looks on as Jarrett Middle School students complete the task of creating their personal budgets.

Braga, Correia and Macias are all participating in Chaminade’s Office of Service Learning and Community Engagement program, which aims to empower students to define and deepen their classroom learning experience through impactful need-based community engagement rooted in Marianist and Native Hawaiian values.

“Our vision is to foster a collective sense of place through investment in community partnerships, service learning process and pedagogy, and a commitment to serving others,” said Mitch Steffey, Chaminade’s Associate Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Service. “We envision a campus culture that embraces service and service learning as a valuable community-focused vehicle toward personal growth.”

The benefits of service learning extend to both the students and the communities they serve. For students, service learning allows them to apply classroom theories and concepts to tangible, real-world situations. This hands-on experience enhances their understanding of academic material and fosters critical thinking skills. Students also often acquire a diverse set of skills, including communication, teamwork, problem-solving and leadership. These skills are transferable to various professional and personal contexts, contributing to their overall development.

Meanwhile, the benefits to the community are many. First and foremost, service learning projects are designed to address specific community needs. Whether it’s tutoring, environmental initiatives or healthcare support, students contribute directly to ameliorating the well-being of the community. Secondly, universities and communities can build long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships through service learning programs. These collaborations promote ongoing support for community initiatives and foster a sense of shared responsibility.

“We also have a similar program with Palolo Elementary School,” said Jacob Escuza ’25, a student worker who acts as the Chaminade University liaison between Jarrett Middle School and Palolo Elementary School. “The Palolo program, though, is more of a one-on-one tutorial session with the kids.”

Steffey distinguishes the difference between community service and learning service. Citing an example of the latter, he uses a biology student who could go out in the lo‘i kalo (taro patch) to test the waters to see why one part of the patch produces more kalo than another.

“He/she can test if there’s too much acid in the water,” Steffey explained. “So, we’re going to the community to fulfill a need with the expertise that we already have through our professors, courses and classrooms.

“You don’t have that at beach cleanup,” Steffey continued. “The cleanup is good for the community, but there isn’t much learning being done.”

Jarrett Middle School students certainly learned about budgeting when Correia asked them to take a piece a paper out and pencil, and then pointed to a list on a whiteboard that included such budget line items as rent, food, water, video games, savings, candy, toys, furniture, toiletry and bike. Each was assigned a value from one to three points.

“You have 10 points or consider it the amount of money you make,” Correia instructed. “Now, choose the items you want until you reach 10 points and no more. And that will be your budget.”

The majority of the students prioritized rent and food, followed by video games, candy and bike. “I’m going to need a bike to get to work,” one student rationalized for adding the necessary transportation to the top of his priority list. “And I’m going have to eat, but I’m going to need a place to eat.”

Community Garden

Students tend to the māla as part of EN102

Pushing a wheelbarrow in the māla, Zachary “Pono” Narcisco was learning how to garden—not exactly what he had in mind when he enrolled in his English class. The “cultivating” effort is all part of Dr. Koreen Nakahodo’s mandatory service-learning component of her EN102 Composition and Rhetoric course.

“We have to do at least six hours of service learning,” said Narcisco, a freshman and an aspiring nurse. “Dr. Nakahodo asked us to write about our experience at the māla, and what value we can bring out from gardening.”

Many universities offer some form of service-learning, which is an educational approach that combines community service with academic learning to provide students with a holistic and hands-on learning experience. This experiential learning approach also helps students deepen their understanding of course material and how it applies to the everyday world.

“Unlike community service—which might include something like a one-day beach clean-up and then you go home—service learning directly connects service-to-course content,” said Mitch Steffey, Chaminade’s Associate Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Service. “Learners try to apply aspects of the course while simultaneously working to satisfy the needs of the community.”

Nakahodo’s pedagogical approach to teaching is based on three principles: place, space and transactional writing. For this Fall’s EN102, she initially themed it “Food Insecurity,” which would have involved Christina Klimo, University of Dayton’s Write Place Coordinator with the Office of Learning Resource.

“Two years ago, we met while participating in the Marianist Educational Associates formation program, and we shared similar ideas,” said Nakahodo, who has taught at Chaminade since 1998. “Then we started having weekly Zoom meetings and it just progressed from there.”

After numerous Zoom conference calls, Nakahodo and Klimo had coordinated to collaborate on a course this term that would be based on the two universities’ community gardens, hence the theme. The first session was hosted by Silverswords who held up their laptops to capture the views of Diamond Head and the ocean to show the UD students.

“It was a get-to-know-each-other meeting,” Nakahodo said. “The second session was going to be hosted by UD and the third session would have been a collaborative effort. But unfortunately, Christina got sick and we had to postpone the session.”

Shoveling mulch into the wheelbarrow, sophomore Maka‘ala Ng said it’s difficult to grow plants and vegetables in this garden because of the quality of the soil, but they’ll persist, as long as students keep helping to tend the garden.

“When vegetables do start growing, we’re going to give them away,” said Ng, an Environmental Science and Environmental Studies double major. “Right now, we’re planting corn, peas, cucumbers and indigenous plants. We also apply three different methods to compost waste: tumbler, which looks like a cement mixer; vermicomposting or worm farm composting; and in-ground composting.”

 Steffey has spearheaded the garden endeavor for the past couple of years with the help of students like Narcisco and Ng, and professors like Nakahodo who want to address the disconnection between island residents living in today’s fast-paced, consumer-oriented society and their lack of awareness of food origins and production.

“Eighty-five to 90 percent of our food is imported,” Steffey said. “We need policies and actions to increase the amount of locally grown food consumed by Hawaii’s residents. And we’re trying to do our own little part for our community.”

Out on a Limb

Elena Chen wants to help people walk again

Elena Chen and a fellow graduate student help an amputee with his prosthetic leg.

She vividly remembers the moment when she knew that she wanted to pursue her higher education in prosthetics. While a sophomore volunteer at Shriners Children’s Hawaii, Elena Chen ’21 witnessed something less than a miracle, as she describes it.  

“I saw a young kid get a second chance to run again,” Chen recalls. “After putting on a leg prosthetic, he got up and I’ll never forget the smile on his face; it was awesome to see.”  

Now attending the International Institute of Orthotics and Prosthetics in Tampa, Fla., Chen is working towards her master’s degree in Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P), a specialized health care profession that combines technical and clinical skills to care for patients with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders and/or patients who have a partial or total absence of a limb.  

“I graduated with my bachelor’s in Forensic Science, which I really wanted a career in,” Chen says. “But when I learned about the field of prosthetics and orthotics, it personally connected with me because I know someone whose leg was amputated because of cancer.”  

Prostheses (artificial legs and hands) and orthoses (braces and splints) enable people with physical impairments or functional limitations to live healthy, productive, independent and dignified lives, and to participate in education, the labor market and social life. The use of prostheses or orthoses can reduce the need for formal health care, support services, long-term care and caregivers.  

“Prostheses and orthoses give people a second chance to perform activities that they once loved, like running, for instance,” Chen says. “When you lose your leg, you can quickly take a downward spiral into deep depression, which causes a persistent feeling of sadness and disinterest.”  

Without access to prostheses or orthoses, people who need them are often excluded, isolated and locked into poverty, which increases the burden of morbidity and disability. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) states that Member States—to which the U.S. belongs—are responsible for taking effective measures to ensure personal mobility for the greatest possible independence of people with disabilities.

Elena Chen laminated a prosthetic socket during one of her classes.

They also have a corresponding responsibility to promote and ensure the availability of and access to mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, including prostheses and orthoses.

As of June 2023, the CRPD has been ratified by 164 signatories and 187 parties, 186 states and the European Union. Members are thus obliged to ensure access to affordable, high-quality assistive products, including prostheses and orthoses. However, the World Health Organization estimates that, today, only 1 in 10 people in need has access to assistive products, including prostheses and orthoses.        

Chen wants to change this.  

From 2019 to 2020, Chen shadowed her mentor, Cameron Lehrer, an American Board Certified and Licensed Prosthetist and Orthotist, and owner of Prosthetics & Orthotic Associates of Hawaii, Inc, which prides itself in its creative and innovative approach to patient-centered care.  

“I was a student apprentice responsible for taking casts and measurements,” Chen explains. “I was making prosthetic sockets, and really building my skills.”  

Chen, though, just doesn’t want to learn about prosthetics and orthotics, she also wants to be able to translate the technical medical terms in Mandarin. This month, she received her X2 student visa and started her clinical rotations in Chongqing, China.  

“I’m so excited,” said Chen, after learning about the approval of her visa. “Not only will I gain more experience in making prosthetic limbs, but I’ll also learn more Mandarin. Eventually, I want to be able to utilize my Chinese language skills in Hawaii to help people with their language barrier in a hospital setting, which is a scary experience.”  

Due to return to Hawaii in December to visit her parents, mom Shanly Wu and dad Tommy Chen, the aspiring 24-year-old prosthetist and orthoptist is grateful for the experiential opportunities that Chaminade exposed her to while an undergraduate student, and taught her to be open to new ideas and to want to learn everything she can.  

“Outside of classes, I did volunteer work and joined various student clubs,” Chen says. “I also completed the one-year Hogan Entrepreneurial Program, and I was the only one who went to Shanghai, China to study abroad. What I appreciate most is that Chaminade taught me the importance of community service and giving back, which is what I want to do when I get my board-certified license in ’24 or ’25.”

Chaminade Scholar

Depending on the power grid in the countryside of Ukraine, Chaminade sophomore Victoria DelaCruz ’25 may or may not be able to teach American culture, environment and English to Kate (not her real name to protect her identity) through a volunteer role with ENGin, a nonprofit group that offers a unique opportunity to make a difference in a Ukrainian’s life. It’s a volunteer role that she pursued during her freshman year in 2021.

What she didn’t anticipate, though, was the Russian invasion of the second largest European country in February 2022. Still, the Saipan native persisted and persevered to maintain contact with Kate at least once a week to this very day.

“She wants to improve her English, and I’m trying to help her do that,” says DelaCruz, who opted to major in Data Science, Analytics and Visualization. “I am provided with class lessons, but I tailor them to fit with what I’m comfortable with.”

Growing up in the largest island in the Northern Mariana Islands, DelaCruz has always felt comfortable with helping her community, following her mom to work at KARIDAT, a not-for-profit, social service organization under the Catholic Charity Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. In 2018, when Super Typhoon Yutu, the strongest typhoon ever recorded to impact the Mariana Islands and the second-strongest to strike the United States or its territories, slammed into Saipan, DelaCruz was there.

Victoria DelaCruz helps out at the Kaimuki office of Aloha Harvest.

“She was doing basic intakes and helping out in the food pantry,” recalls mom Elaine DelaCruz, a Chaminade alumna who earned her bachelor’s degree in 1999 and her M.S. in Counseling Psychology (MSCP) in 2003. “She has always wanted to serve her community ever since she was a young girl.”

DelaCruz personifies the Chaminade Scholar, defined as a student who strives to discover his or her life vocation, to be a servant leader and to use God-given gifts and talents to pursue the common good. “Her reflection on service and the path she traveled to earn her internship with Aloha Harvest are inspiring,” says Bro. Ed Brink, a member of the Mission and Identity Committee that selects Chaminade Scholars. “She’s truly a remarkable young woman who exemplifies the Marianist education and values.”

While searching for a service project to fulfill one of the mandatory requirements of being a Chaminade Scholar, DelaCruz came upon the AmeriCorps Vista program and decided to become a member. The objective of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) is to provide needed resources to nonprofit organizations and public agencies to increase their capacity to lift communities out of poverty. It just so happened that Aloha Harvest was registering to participate in the VISTA program and looking for someone to work in its office.

“I started as a volunteer in late September 2022,” DelaCruz recalls. “At that point, Aloha Harvest was in the process of creating an AmeriCorps VISTA position (Program Data Evaluation Specialist), and found out I was a Data Science student. So, they asked me if I would be willing to fulfill that position, and that’s how I was recruited. My official first day as a full-time service member with Aloha Harvest was January 17, 2023, and I will be there until January 17, 2024.”

In addition to being a Chaminade Scholar, DelaCruz is also in the Experiential Honors Program, and she serves as vice president of the Chaminade Sustainability Council, the design manager for the Chaminade Student Programming Board and an Alliance Research Intern with the National Science Foundation.

DelaCruz credits her Chaminade Scholar status, not only for her monetary scholarship, but for helping her grow and commit to community service, which she plans to continue in Saipan after she graduates in 2024.

“When it comes to data science, there’s a great demand for it in Saipan, from the medical to the educational field,” DelaCruz asserts. “Saipan usually has to bring in people from the Mainland but it never lasts too long.”

And if you had told DelaCruz that she would be pursuing a degree in data science a year ago, she says she would have thought you were lying. “I never considered technology, and now I’m learning to code and use data,” she says. “I’m really glad I changed my major to DSAV because the skills that I have learned can be applied to so many fields. And I can use the knowledge that I gained and my passion for service to help my Chamorro community.”