A History of the "What Now?" Event

The conception of the "What Now?" event stemmed from several reasons. One reason was a parent discovering that their child couldn't apply for a college loan without a cosigner. Another reason emerged from a conversation among AVID program students questioning whether it was fair that they received additional college and career guidance throughout their four years of high school. Lastly, the event was inspired by high school seniors who wanted to create a service-learning project that promotes post-high school options for students in grades K-12.

This led to the identification of a need for an annual event focused on creating awareness of post-high school opportunities for Kapolei families. In the spring of 2019, 2020 & 2025, the "What Now? A Post-High School Community Networking Event" was held at Kapolei High School. The event provided informational sessions and workshops on topics such as financial planning, navigating the first year in college, military options, trade unions, and more, to students and parents of Kapolei schools. Additionally, students from the photography and media classes captured event highlights.