Falanai Ala Guest Speaker at Will Rogers Career Day

NPIEN President Falanai Ala was a guest speaker at the Will Rogers Middle School Career Day on March 12, 2009. Will Rogers is part of the Lawndale School District in Los Angeles County, and borders on the cities of Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lennox, and Gardena. Falanai is an architect by trade, and a facilities planner for the Long Beach (CA) Unified School District. He told the students of his struggles coming to the US Mainland at age 14, and how he was enrolled in English as a Second Language classes at Carnegie Middle School and Carson High School, CA. The students were very interested in seeing pictures of two buildings he designed, a church in Carson which features a traditional Samoan fale or house at the entrance, and also a home he designed located in Signal Hill. Ala informed the students that the excitement of his job was to know that generations would enjoy the buildings he designed. Thanks to Stephanie Swick, school counselor, for inviting NPIEN to participate.