Konawaena and KTA cook up partnership

For 18-year-old Chris Lubke, a new partnership between Konawaena High School and KTA Keauhou is affording him the opportunity to hone his cooking skills.

Lubke, who has a scholarship with Hawaii Community College to study culinary arts next year, said he wants to one day open up his own restaurant.

And thanks to a new partnership between the school and KTA, he was able to learn first-hand what it might be like to run his own business.

The school and local grocery store joined forces recently to explore a project that gives the culinary students a chance to sell products they made.

“I learned a lot about regulations and what it takes to sell a product,” Lubke said.

As of May 6, the Konawaena High School’s Career, Technology and Education Department started selling their UpMauka products at KTA Keauhou. The UpMauka product labels were designed by 16-year-old Josiah Casuga-Llanes. He created the label in his digital media class and after a vote, his work became the face of the brand.

“I was surprised and it felt pretty good. It felt like I achieved something,” he said of having his label being displayed at the local store.

Kerstin Pfeiffer, the culinary instructor at the school for grades 10 through 12, said that’s what it’s all about.

She said the project is one-of-a-kind and helps to establish a closer relationship with the community. Pfeiffer, relatively new to the area, said she believes the project instills confidence and a sense of accomplishment for the students.

“They get to say ‘Wow! We made this,’” she said.

Currently, the school is selling lilikoi jelly, fudge, Konawaena apparel and coffee mugs designed by students. Also being sold are reusable bags silk-screened at the school.

The sales will continue until June 3, and according to KTA Vice President Derek Kurisu, who helped spearhead the collaborative effort, the project couldn’t have gone better.

“I was inspired by them,” he said of the students. “I couldn’t believe how much the teachers and principals worked to make it real.”

Kurisu said the idea came to him after he saw the school had their own newspaper published at West Hawaii Today, and he thought some kind of similar collaboration could occur between the school and KTA.

He hopes the project will continue and expand, he said.

“I, myself, have to grow with the project,” he said.

Kurisu envisions similar partnerships with schools around the island someday.

Money from the sales goes back to the school and Pfeiffer said she hopes to see the culinary program expand.

“I see big things for this program,” she said.