Hawaii charter schools are getting a technology upgrade, good news for students and teachers on Hawaiian Home Lands.

• The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is handing out more than $4 million to 11 charter schools.
• The money buys a MacBook for every student at those schools, plus interactive whiteboards for classrooms.
• Funding comes from a federal tribal broadband program aimed at widening access to technology.
• Elsewhere in the islands, the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii is opening Kauai's first teen center in Lihue, on land donated by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
• Community events are filling the calendar: a free ukulele tuneup in Honolulu with Jake Shimabukuro and Chris Kamaka, a free Halloween booth bash in Kaneohe, and the Hawaii Island Veterans Day parade in Hilo on November 7.

Outlook: Schools should have the new laptops and whiteboards in classrooms this school year, with the teen center opening to kids ages 12 to 18 on Kauai.