HONOLULU — Public school students are gaining hands-on experience in aviation and agriculture careers through the first two state-funded internships that expand workforce development opportunities for high schoolers with private-sector employers in Hawaiʻi.

In partnership with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) is providing funding to private companies to support internship opportunities for HIDOE high school students through Act 251 (Session Laws of Hawai‘i, 2025). Under this program, the HIDOE reimburses private companies for the time spent training and supervising student interns, who earn a $20 minimum hourly wage.

Act 251 appropriated $1.8 million for the internships in fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, allowing HIDOE to expand work-based learning opportunities for students statewide across all 13 Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways offered in Hawaiʻi public schools.

Aloun Farms and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum are the first private employers to offer paid internships to public high school students this summer using state funds.

Interns at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum meet for six weeks, 24 hours a week, to receive hands-on training in aircraft maintenance and restoration. The five interns, all from James Campbell High School, are currently part of the museum’s newly created Aviation Pathways A&P Program, a two-year workforce initiative to prepare students for FAA certification testing and entry‑level aviation jobs.

“We’ve worked on multiple planes and engines, replacing a few parts like fuel filters, doing a bit of sealing or corrosion control and painting,” said James Campbell High School senior Devin Araki, who is a part of the Aviation Pathways A&P program and plans to enter the aviation industry.

At Aloun Farms, an intern from Kapolei High and another from Campbell High are meeting for four weeks, 32 hours a week, this summer to work alongside department managers and staff to learn about the day-to-day operations of a local agricultural business. The students rotate through crop care, logistics and operations, sales and marketing, accounting and human resources to gain hands-on experience and see how each department contributes to the company’s success.

Both internships will conclude at the end of July.

Outrigger Resorts will soon join the program, hosting student interns at their Kona property and a property in Waikīkī later this year.

“It’s just a great opportunity to make people in Hawaiʻi aware that this is available to them, you know, as a high schooler,” said Cy Nishihira, Senior Program Manager for A&P Pathways, Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.