The Pacific Literacy Consortium (PLC) is proud to have partnered with the Hawai‘i Agricultural Foundation (HAF) to coordinate key components of this year’s Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP) Marketplace, held on April 12, 2025, at the Kapiolani Community College Farmers’ Market. This statewide event featured more than 20 schools from across Hawai‘i showcasing their creativity, teamwork, and entrepreneurial spirit as they sold locally made products that celebrated Hawai‘i’s rich agricultural roots.
The marketplace offered students a meaningful opportunity to apply entrepreneurial concepts in a real-world setting. They strengthened their skills in areas such as product design, marketing, customer engagement, and business planning. In addition to building these competencies, students raised funds to support their school programs, demonstrating how innovation and community involvement can work together to promote long-term sustainability.
This event represented an important step forward in PLC’s ongoing partnership with HAF to bring the YEP curriculum to classrooms, including Honouliuli Middle School, one of our project sites on Oʻahu. Throughout the school year, educators at Honouliuli collaborated with Jennie Kaahui, YEP’s Tech Manager, to guide students through each stage of the entrepreneurial journey. The process began with ideation, as students developed original product concepts, and continued through to commercialization, where they prepared their goods for public sale and engagement at the YEP Marketplace.
At PLC, we remain committed to expanding learning opportunities that merge academic skill-building with real-world application. Partnering with HAF’s YEP continues to strengthen our mission to foster creativity, critical thinking, and future-ready skills among Hawai‘i’s youth.
