UH Hilo international students explore American culture through community outreach

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Popcorn, popcorn, get your popcorn! Students at UH Hilo’s English Language Institute were tasked with doing a community project— they chose to do a fundraiser to benefit a local animal sanctuary.

Two students in Santa hats helping someone buy some cookies.
Students from the English Language Institute are holding a fundraiser to benefit a local animal sanctuary. Delicious popcorn treats are on sale today and tomorrow on the Mookini Library lānai.

By Susan Enright with photos by Daniel Nathaniel for UH Hilo Stories.

Laurel Luth business portrait in outdoor setting.
Laurel Luth

Each semester, the English Language Institute at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo runs a course on American Culture and Community taught by Laurel Luth, an instructor at the institute. This multi-level course for non-native English speakers explores American culture through hands-on learning about topics such as treatment of the elderly, the environment, people with disabilities, addiction, homelessness, education, immigration and the treatment of animals. Students discuss varying cultural perspectives and participate in hands-on projects with local organizations. Topics change each semester and a culminating project designed by students completes the course.

For this semester’s course requirements, students in the class are holding a fundraiser on the Mookini Library lānai this week to benefit Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter in Keaʻau where the students helped care for animals. For sale is a homemade old-fashioned caramel popcorn confection available today and tomorrow:

  • Monday, Dec. 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on the Library Lanai
  • Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. on the Library Lanai
Julie Mowrer
Julie Mowrer

“Please stop by to help support the Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary, give yourself a little something to help you get through the end of the semester and encourage our international students’ interest in becoming active participants in both our local community and in the larger global community,” says Julie Mowrer, director of the institute.

Two students at table with packages of treats for sale. Sign for "POPCORN BALLS."
As part of a community outreach program, student Shonosuke Tomomatsu (at left) sells a yummy popcorn confection on the library lanai. Proceeds will benefit a local animal shelter. Friend Teresinha Santos Da Costa helps out.

Learning about American culture through community outreach

For their culminating project in American Culture and Community, students are tasked with creating a project that will help one of the organizations they have learned about. In addition to caring for animals at Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary, the students taking the course this semester also participated in a beach cleanup of Puako Beach, taught cultural games to preschoolers, and volunteered at a Homeless Luncheon for Thanksgiving. For their last project, the students decided to raise funds for the Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Shonosuke Tomomatsu, a senior from Tokyo, Japan, majoring in linguistics, says of the experience at the animal shelter, “It was good. I don’t have any pets. The experience I did there was the first time to treat and deal with animals.”

Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

Photos by Daniel Nathaniel, a senior at UH Hilo majoring in linguistics on the GI Bill. Previously, he served nine years as superintendent of public affairs, 624th Regional Support Group at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Oʻahu. He currently is a photographer in the Office of the Chancellor.

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