Past Recipients Write About Their Experiences

Chung-Hao Liao - Class of 2004
The school year 2006-2007 has been a very busy year for me. I maximized the amount of courses I could take per semester. I took mostly classes from my major, travel indus- try management. I was able to study different aspects of travel industry management ranging from the operations, hotel management, service enterprise, and information technology to back of the house functions like human resources, finance, and accounting. I did many case studies and group projects in these classes. Case studies helped me develop my critical thinking and interpretation skills while big group projects helped me improve my collaborative and communication skills.

I was also able to do on site inspection of various restaurants and travel industry spots and conduct interviews with managers. One great interview I did was at Mariposa restaurant with Mr. David Brown, the general manager. He taught me much about motivation and confidence as a leader as a successful manager. I joined Eta Sigma Delta this school year. It is an honor society in the travel industry management school. In this club, we did various fundraising and community services such as Relay For Life and the Charity Walk. I was able to meet many friends and did much networking from Eta Sigma Delta. There are many companies in the travel indus- try that come to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to recruit people and to provide information about their company. I attended many information sessions this year such as Starwood, Marriott, the Kahala and Hilton. I realized the upcoming year would be my last school year so I am starting to research and learn about the great companies in the travel industry. This summer I was fortunate to be hired by Starwood as an intern. I will be interning in the guest services and Asia sales departments. I know this is a great opportunity for me to expand my skills and apply the knowledge I've obtained from school. It will be a valuable experience for me. I have already completed my core classes and basic requirements for graduation so I am now focusing on completing my required class in the travel industry management major. I've also tried to put time into school clubs and associations so I can network and improve my social skills. I was fortunate to get the internship at Starwood where I am gaining more experience in the travel industry. I feel that I am doing really great in my school career right now and everything is running pretty smoothly. I would like to thank the McKinley High School Foundation for making my pursuit in education so successful. Thank you very much.

Class of 1944
The class of 1944 donated funds to the Foundation for our scholarship program. Many classes donate residual funds from their class reunions to the Foundation - we are so grateful to them for their most generous contributions. A big mahalo to the class of 1944 and all of our generous contributors.

Class of 2007
Once again, under the direction of Ms. Barbara Kakuda, the graduating seniors from McKinley give back to their alma mater. This year over two-thirds of the graduating seniors contributed to the Foundation's scholarship fund. It always amazes us of the generosity of these newest alumni. Thank you!!

Richard Mato Honors the Class of 1947 on Their 60th Anniversary
Richard Matao has donated stock to the Foundation in honor of the class of 1947’s 60th anniversary. We are truly grateful to Richard for his generous contribution - the funds will be used for scholarships and to enrich programs at McKinley.