First Hawaiian Bank’s Grant Helps

[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11]

At Chaminade, Mangum was also part of the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program. Students who participate in the program meet several times a week to learn the ins and outs of starting and running a business, and they network with business leaders around the Island. He found a second family through the Hogan program and a true mentor in now-retired Hogan director Dr. John Webster. The Program gave him the connections he needed to launch one of his companies postgraduation—an adult basketball league.

The league meets weekly at the Honolulu Club and encompasses four teams and over 30 players. The sales manager at the club was familiar with the Hogan program, and had faith enough in Mangum to offer up the space for the league’s games. One of Mangum’s Hogan mentors now also plays in the league.

As a communications major, Mangum took away two key lessons: how to write and how to market. He believes he’ll use those skills for the rest of his career.

After graduating he became the fulltime marketing director for Nextdoor, a cinema lounge and concert hall in Honolulu’s Chinatown. He promotes their concerts, secures sponsorships and works with musicians to encourage them to visit Honolulu while on tour.

He also started his own company to book shows for musicians on the neighbor islands, and to market and promote events and small businesses. He loves his job—it puts him in contact with some of the musicians he used to idolize as a teenager.

“These are all musicians that I was a huge fan of in high school,” says Mangum. “And now, just a few years later, I am able to be in business and work with them, which was a pretty cool realization.”

Coronavirus lockdowns have put much of his career on hold—concert venues are closed, musicians have paused their tours and the basketball league is postponed. But as a Chaminade graduate, the importance of adaptation and change is deeply ingrained in him. The core Marianist value has proved crucial as he finds ways to navigate the future.

“We’ve been adapting with various strategies to make sure we stay relevant, to find new ways to operate,” says Mangum. “I definitely credit Chaminade’s core values for helping me think through that.”

Mangum doesn’t know what the future holds, but if he can continue on his current path, he’ll be a happy man.

“I really love what I do now,” says Mangum. “I just hope to keep expanding and do it on a larger scale. Someday, I’d love to sell out something like the Blaisdell Arena. For now, I’ll just keep working harder and doing more.”

FIRST HAWAIIAN BANK’S GRANT HELPS MOVE EDUCATION FORWARD

CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY RECEIVED A $25,000 GRANT FROM FIRST HAWAIIAN BANK THAT WILL ALLOW THE UNIVERSITY TO REMAIN CURRENT AND BETTER POSITIONED TO TRAIN TOMORROW’S TEACHERS. THE GRANT WILL BE USED TO ENSURE OUR EDUCATION PROGRAM GRADUATES TEACHERS WHO USE BEST PRACTICES IN PLACE-BASED, DEEP LEARNING.

Place-based education encourages student agency and is situated within the context of the learners’ environment, allowing them opportunities to explore questions that are immediately relevant. In Hawai'i, such an instructional approach provides a space to honor and highlight native/ indigenous knowledge and skills in addition to addressing required state and national standards. It has been shown that learners who engage in placebased education are not only more engaged, but also demonstrate a deeper understanding of content. Teachers who embrace this style of teaching are also more likely to stay in the classroom.

Chaminade will collaborate with the Kupu Hou Academy, a teacher professional development program housed at Mid-Pacific Institute, to help translate and implement the place-based, deeper learning model in the university setting.

According to Dr. Lynn Babington, president of Chaminade University, “This collaboration with Mid-Pacific Institute will transform Chaminade’s education program and ensure that it is graduating teachers who are using best practices in place-based, deep learning, and who are empowered to be innovative and creative in the classroom. The real beneficiaries will be Hawai'i’s children, who will have access to an engaging, quality education.”

Supplying the second-largest pool of teachers in the state, our School of Education and Behavioral Sciences offers six undergraduate degree programs in education and two master’s degree programs—Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Education.

Photo pictured left to right: Dr. Elizabeth Park (Assistant Professor of Education, Chaminade University); Dr. Lynn Babington (President, Chaminade University); Donna Mendes (AVP and Branch Manager), First Hawaiian Bank; and Dr. Katrina Roseler (Assistant Professor of Education, Chaminade University)