Waiakea High School Career and Technical Education students excelled at the 2019 Hawaii State Career and Technical Student Organization Convention that took place Feb. 25-27 at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu.

Dennis Makishima teaches a pruning workshop Tuesday at Liliuokalani Gardens in Hilo. The two-day workshop was shaped for park maintenance personnel and active landscapers. Makishima is the founder of the aesthetic tree pruning program at Merritt College in Oakland, Calif., and past president of the Golden State Bonsai Federation. He used to come to Hawaii annually to help with the bonsai show at the Okinawa Festival in Honolulu. Now retired, Makishima is working on clients’ trees during two weekends on Oahu and in between returned to Hilo to teach the workshop Monday and Tuesday.

Punana Leo o Hilo, part of the state’s only continuous Hawaiian Medium Education program available from preschool through college, is now accepting applications for its preschool program for the 2019-2020 school year. Ohana can enroll keiki ages 2 years and 8 months up to 6 years old.

Photos by LAURA RUMINSKI/West Hawaii Today.