One Year, So Many Ways to Get involved: PAAC's 2026–2027 Roadmap Is Here
Somewhere in Hawaiʻi right now, a sophomore is scrolling through a club Instagram post about Jeju Island, wondering if a $500 plane ticket could really be the start of something. A club officer is drafting an agenda for a club meeting. A freshman is quietly deciding whether they can actually make a difference in this world. This is the moment before the moment — and it's exactly what our new 2026–2027 Roadmap is built for.
Today we're releasing the full year ahead: every application deadline, every summit, every study tour, every scholarship, mapped out from this August through next June. It's a lot to look at in one sitting, so here's the story of the year it tells.
Fall 2026: Building the Bridge
The year opens with an invitation. On August 15, Sister-State Study Tour applications open — one seat per public high school, any Hawaiʻi student eligible, three destinations on the table: Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Okinawa, and Jeju Island. It's the same equity thesis PAAC has built its name on: one student from every school, regardless of what that school can afford to offer on its own.
Club leaders get their own on-ramp four days later at the Club Officers Huddle on August 19, a Zoom kickoff to meet the PAAC team and get oriented for the year. Through September and October, clubs statewide dig into SDG Lessons: Korea, connecting real issues on the ground in Korea to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, while the PAAC team hits the road — or the Zoom room — for Club Visits, bringing swag, energy, and hands-on support to any club that asks.
October brings the year's first big convening: the LEAD Summit, four days where student officers from across the state build friendships and leadership skills together, followed immediately by the Sister-State Study Tour deadline on October 15. A week later, Freeman Korea Study Tour applications open — this one open to any Hawaiʻi high schooler, with travel scholarships available, for summer 2027 travel to Korea.
The fall closes out with two of PAAC's flagship academic programs finding their footing: the Academic WorldQuest Launch Party on November 11 kicks off the state's global trivia competition, and December brings Global Vision Summit, where students statewide tackle global health, pandemics, and resilience — preceded by an October prep lesson to help teams sharpen their skills before the big day.
Spring 2027: The Payoff
If fall is about building the bridge, spring is where the year's work shows up. January 11 is a double deadline day — Freeman Korea Study Tour applications close the same day the LEAD Workshop convenes virtually for officers statewide. January and February bring Academic WorldQuest coaching sessions, where teams sharpen the global trivia instincts they'll need for the March competition.
February 1 opens scholarship season: seniors can apply for the $1,000 Honda College Scholarship, while ninth through eleventh graders can nominate a standout peer for the $300 Tangen Award. Academic WorldQuest itself takes place in March, with neighbor island teams joining virtually and a shot at representing Hawaiʻi in Washington, D.C. on the line.
Then comes the trip so many students spent the fall imagining: Sister-State Study Tours travel March 13–26, sending Hawaiʻi's public school ambassadors to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Okinawa, and Jeju Island. Scholarship applications close March 26, club reports are due April 2, and on May 15, clubs statewide gather for the Student Showcase — awards, alumni, and a year's worth of good vibes in one room. The year wraps where it began: Freeman Korea Study Tour travel, June 16–30, sending another cohort of students across the Pacific for the first time.
Why We Map It All Out
This roadmap is our promise to every public high school student in this state. Here is exactly when your door opens, and here is exactly how long you have to walk through it. Whether that's a $500 study tour, a leadership summit, a trivia team, or a scholarship application, the date is on the calendar, and the door is real.
If you're a student, an advisor, or a parent trying to figure out where your year fits into ours, the full roadmap is now up — take a look, mark your dates, and reach out to Chey Prater at program@paachawaii.org for more information.
