The kids competing in tomorrow’s Elementary Science Olympiad will have to show off their skills in a variety of events, from an activity seeing how long they can keep a carbonated beverage bottle rocket aloft to a gravity-powered vehicle race that will test them on how close to the finish line their cars stop. The […]
Alia Wong
Alia Wong previously covered education news for Civil Beat.
A Honolulu native, Alia returned to the islands in May 2012 after graduating from Boston University with degrees in journalism and Latin American studies.
Alia was a longtime intern at Civil Beat before landing her position as a reporter-host. One of her stories, “A Lost Child of Kalaupapa,” won her the 2011 Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter award for best online feature writing.
But not all her intern assignments at Civil Beat have been as glamorous. During the summer of 2012, she had to tour (read: smell) some of Oahu’s nastiest bathrooms for her story The Dirty Dozen: The State of Honolulu’s Public Restrooms.
She sincerely hopes her editors remember she’s no longer an intern.
Before the birth of Civil Beat, Alia wrote for Honolulu Weekly. She also had a number of jobs while in Boston, including as a fellow in Boston University’s writing center and a research assistant on a long-term project that analyzed the relationship among the Mexican Revolution, international cinema and transnational politics.
Alia is a self-proclaimed globetrotter and will do anything she can to travel to new places. She developed a fascination with Latin America while in high school and hasn’t been able to keep herself away since. Most recently she traveled to Ecuador, where she lived and studied for six months.
You can follow Alia on Twitter at @aliaemily
Posted inUncategorized
Waianae Coast High School Seniors Ease Into College Through New Transition Program
In an effort to boost college-going and completion rates in underserved communities, the Onipaa program gets high school seniors on the Waianae Coast acquainted with the college experience before classes even start. Students who participate in the five-day program, which was first implemented last year, even get a college credit once they complete it. The […]
Posted inUncategorized
Arbitration Panel Approves Raises for Hawaii Principals
Principals of Hawaii’s public schools and other educational officers who are members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association are getting 4.5 percent raises for four years, according to a press release. The raises, which are retroactive to July 1, 2013, were approved as part of an award issued by an arbitration panel. Other highlights of […]
Posted inHawaiʻi, Politics
Appeals Court: Calvin Say Must Prove He Lives in the District He Represents
Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals decision could require proof for Say to continue to serve Palolo.
Posted inEducation
Why Do Hawaii’s Private Schools Pay Teachers Less Than Public Schools?
Seasoned instructors look at more than salaries when deciding where to work.
Posted inUncategorized
UH Manoa Alumni Who Paid Fee for New Rec Center Can Use It — for $300 a Year
The University of Hawaii at Manoa has decided to allow recent alumni to use the campus’s brand-new Warrior Recreation Center — as long as they pay a $300 annual membership. To help pay for the long-drawn-out construction project, the university started imposing fees on students back in 2008. But as Civil Beat has reported, many […]
Posted inUncategorized
UH Narrows Final Presidential Picks to Less Than Five Candidates
The 13-member committee charged with selecting the next president to lead the University of Hawaii has narrowed its nominees down to four candidates or less, according to a press release. It’s unclear exactly how many candidates are being considered, as some of the finalists have withdrawn their applications due to privacy concerns, the press release […]
Posted inUncategorized
State Officials Declare Tomorrow ‘UH Community Colleges Day’
April 23 is officially “UH Community Colleges Day.” Gov. Neil Abercrombie will make the formal proclamation tomorrow, marking the 50th anniversary of the community college system we know today. On the same day back in 1964, then-Gov. John A. Burns signed into law pivotal legislation that “would forever change the educational landscape of the entire […]
Posted inEducation, Hawaiʻi, University of Hawaii
Escaping Hawaii’s Community College Trap
Why do students take so long to graduate?