It’s a cliché, but it’s true that you really never know what will happen when you drop a tiny pebble into a pond.

Since Richard first heard that Keaukaha Elementary School didn’t have enough money to take its students on field trips, and set up the Adopt-a-Class program to send the students to Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, the ripples have been getting bigger and bigger.

The community stepped up to that call, and paid for buses and admission fees so that Keaukaha kids got to take some amazing field trips this school year.

Ka‘iu Kimura, Assistant Director of ‘Imiloa, says that the Adopt-a-Class program has taken off beyond just Keaukaha now. “Some of our members at  ‘Imiloa have adopted other classes now,” she says. “It’s the coconut wireless. People have called and asked, ‘How can we sponsor Pa‘auilo School,’ for instance. It’s infectious.”

And then Gordon and Betty Moore got involved. Gordon was co-founder of Intel Corporation, and he and his wife now divide their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Big Island.

Kimura says they’d visited ‘Imiloa (“under the radar; they don’t like recognition”) and liked what they saw. One of their people contacted ‘Imiloa and heard about Richard Ha and the Adopt-a-Class program.

He invited ‘Imiloa to submit a proposal to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to expand the program so that 50 percent of all school students on the Big Island could visit ‘Imiloa.

They did. It was accepted.

And then, ripple ripple, Kimura says that when ‘Imiloa sought bids for buses to transport the students – the biggest expense – they found that “bus companies are so willing to work with us that we think we’re going to be able to expand it from 50 to 100 percent of the students on the Big Island.”

That’s every Big Island student in public, charter and private school having the opportunity to learn about science and astronomy and native Hawaiian culture at ‘Imiloa. All because some people felt bad that students in Keaukaha didn’t have money for field trips and did something about it.

“Basically it means that for the next two years,” explains Kimura, “we will service 15,000 Big Island students in grades K through 12.”

The Moore Foundation grant has a matching requirement for the second year, so ‘Imiloa will be launching a campaign to help fund the second year soon. And ‘Imiloa is bringing in an outside evaluator in hopes of finding a way to expand the school visits beyond the two years, so it can offer them on a perpetual basis.

The Moore Foundation’s grant technician told her they are now considering having the Moore Foundation start funding kids in the San Francisco Bay Area to go to science centers near them, too.

“I just want to mahalo that core group that put together that Keaukaha opportunity,” says Kimura. “Not only the Moore Foundation, but also the local community people who really liked that idea and were willing to support schools in their own area.”

“It’s resonated out from Keaukaha to the whole island to the Bay Area,” she says. “It’s been an exciting thing to see it grow.”

We were interested to see that when Keaukaha Elementary School students visited ‘Imiloa recently as a result of our Adopt-a-Class program, they did a traditional Hawaiian chant for permission to enter, and then Hoku‘ao Pellegrino responded with a traditional ‘oli komo, or welcome chant.

Hoku‘ao works at ‘Imiloa as Cultural Landscape Curator, caring for more than 50 types of native plants found on the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s nine acres.

He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani Hawaiian Language Progam last year. Besides his passion for kalo (taro) and other native plants, he considers his role to be sharing and increasing understanding of the Hawaiian language, culture, music and values.

Here is a glimpse of the traditional greeting and welcome between students and Hoku‘ao, who of course represented ‘Imiloa.

June and I were so honored to be invited to ‘Imiloa for an ‘Ohana Night get-together held Wednesday night for the families of teachers and staff of Keaukaha Elementary School. The folks from the Gemini Observatory put on a program for the small kids.

The whole night came about because of the Adopt-a-Class project and the energy generated by this worthy project. First Peter Giles, director of ‘Imiloa, gave a brief introduction. He talked about the Hawaiian culture’s connection with the heavens.

Back in May or so, I told Peter about our new Adopt-a-Class project and that we wanted to tie it into ‘Imiloa’s Hawaiian culture-oriented approach to science. I asked Peter if he would talk story with Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary.

Peter did not expect Lehua to come see him, as some people in his position might have. Instead, he went to see Lehua. It was an acknowledgement that there is nothing more important than teaching the keiki. And at their meeting, Peter seemed to instantly understand that this is a special place—a special school.

I could tell that the experience affected him profoundly. Now he is learning Hawaiian language from Kumu Lehua. Peter is one of those people who “get it.” I have a lot of respect for him.

At ‘Ohana Night, we went into the planetarium so the children could get a sense of how many different cultures looked at the sky and gave names to the star combinations. They got a feel for the moon’s relationship to Earth.

When we returned to the “classroom” we were asked to demonstrate how far away the moon is from the earth, and other puzzling questions.

June and I were pleased to see the “ripple effect” of our Adopt-a-Class program, as these young kids from Keaukaha have experiences and exposure that will only help to open up their universe.

More than anything, we came away feeling how privileged we are to help teachers accomplish their goals by bringing together people who believe, like us, that there is no more noble profession than to teach our children.

Some photos from the ‘Imiloa ‘Ohana Night:

“Okay, your job is to make 50 balls of equal size from this 1 lb. ball of Play-Doh. If you make one ball represent the moon, and then roll up the 49 other balls into one big one, you will see the relative size of the moon to the Earth.”

That’s Kumu Lehua. He says, “Why can’t learning be fun?”

“Okay, we have to do this right! They said the ratio is 49 to 1, not 49 to 1.2!”

“Okay, so what you think?”

Aunty Luana says: “Take the string and make it 30 times the diameter of the Earth, and when you stretch it out, that will be the distance from the Earth to the moon.”

“Again, students: Thirty times the thickness of the Earth is the distance from the moon to the earth. Got that?” They might have gotten that for the rest of their lives.

A beautiful packet of thank you letters just arrived from Keaukaha Elementary School. Its kindergarten students went on their first excursion sponsored by our Adopt-A-Class program — more specifically, sponsored by John and Linda Tolmie, who generously “adopted” the kindergarten students for the first semester of this school year.

“Mr. Ha and Mr. & Mrs. Tolmie,” wrote teacher Wendi Kimura and the kindergarteners in B1. “Words cannot express how thankful I am to have such special people like you in our lives. We would have NEVER been able to take our keiki on a field trip like this. This is a field trip that will not be forgotten. For myself, living in Hilo all my life, I have never pulled a carrot out of the ground or picked my own pumpkin from a patch. It was so heartwarming to see eyes light up with delight. I thank you for providing our keiki with these awesome experiences!”

Kindergarten teacher Sarah Uchida wrote, “Mr & Mrs. Tolmie and Richard Ha, Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to visit Kahua Ranch. We had so much fun picking carrots, picking our very own pumpkin, and getting dirty. Your generosity is very appreciated.”

They and kindergarten teacher Ruth Jarneski took their students to Kahua Ranch in Kohala. “They learned about farming and were able to pick their own carrots and pumpkins, which was a big thrill,” says Principal Lehua Veincent. “Even as rainy as it was that day, the children learned and had fun.”

We are thrilled to see our Adopt-A-Class program in action!

You may recall that we started our Adopt-a-Class project when we learned that Keaukaha Elementary School does not have enough funds to take its students on regular field trips. Because they have no funds, they only took walking excursions around the community.

So we started the Adopt-a-Class project, where individuals or groups could adopt one class for $600. Three hundred dollars would go for bus transportation and the other $300 would go toward entry fees to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, should the teachers want to take the kids there, or other destinations.

That was in May, and in these four months we have had enthusiastic support from the community. Just $300 more, to sponsor the second graders for the second semester, and all the classes are adopted and can go on excursions this school year.

For their first excursion, some of the students recently went to see Cinderella, a stage play at Hilo High School. As the school’s principal Lehua Veincent pointed out, many have never seen a play or other stage production, and it may open up a whole new world to them. We will post some photos here soon.

We have had several organizational meetings with Kumu Lehua, the school’s Adopt-a-Class coordinator Lynn Fujii, Tutu Momi Wakita, who is president of the Keaukaha School Foundation and Terry Crichton, secretary. All administrative tasks are done for free, and one hundred percent of the donations go to the Keaukaha Elementary School Foundation for the children’s excursions.

Aunty Momi told us that she had been planning to retire. But the Adopt-a-Class project generated enough work that she decided to work on it instead of retiring. She was smiling when she told us this.

Every time we meet with Kumu Lehua, we learn more about the school. For instance, he told us recently that the school’s enrollment is increasing significantly. For a while parents were taking their kids out of Keaukaha Elementary and sending them elsewhere. Now parents are bringing their kids back, because they feel like the kids are getting a good education.

He said that when he started there as principal two-and-a-half years ago, the student attendance rate averaged 92%, as compared to the state average, which is 95%. Keaukaha Elementary’s attendance rate is now above 97%. These kids must want to come to class.

I was floored when he told me that they have a monthly ‘Ohana night that draws 150 or more parents. I know of much larger schools where only a handful of parents participate.

Leslie asked about writing a press release about the Adopt-a-Class project and Lehua suggested she do it after the ‘Ohana night they have planned for November. That’s when the students will show where they went and what they did on their excursions and aloha the donors, who will be invited to attend. He said that the students’ acknowledging and thanking the Adopt-a-Class sponsors who help them is part of the education process.

We know this will be a special, unreal occasion. Roland Torres of the television program Kama‘aina Backroads told me he wants to film this event. Chicken skin time!

Last week I was invited by Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, to have lunch at ‘Imiloa Cafe with 24 or so of his teachers. Kumu Lehua asked me, “Do you remember about two years ago when we first met to discuss the Thirty Meter Scope?” He said, “This is where that journey has brought us—here to ‘Imiloa.”

He introduced me to his staff as the person who helped organize excursions for the keiki at Keaukaha Elementary School. But it was not only me. It was also my friend Duane Kanuha, as well as others who saw an opportunity to help and just jumped in.

Kama‘aina Backroads recently taped an episode about Keaukaha Elementary School, which can be viewed here.

Although I was not expected to give a speech, I took the opportunity to tell the teachers that the occasion wasn’t about me. It was really about the teachers, largely unsung; they make the difference. I thanked them on behalf of the donors of the Adopt-a-Class project.

While sitting there, I overheard a conversation between Lehua and some district representatives from the Board of Education. Lehua told them that some people were in tears when they heard that Keaukaha Elementary School’s test scores had improved. And that if they improve sufficiently again this school year, they will be taken off the list of schools to be restructured under the federal “No Child Left Behind” program.

This is an extremely big, and emotional, deal! Keaukaha Elementary School had been underperforming for a long time, and people had started wondering if that was an inevitable and permanent state of things. This improvement in performance is an affirmation that the direction Kumu Lehua is leading is, indeed, the right way.

He has only been at Keaukaha Elementary a little more than two  years, and it’s since he arrived that things are starting to change.

Kumu Lehua believes in honoring the traditions and people who came before them in Keaukaha. Allowing the kids to be proud of who they are, and where they come from, gives them a firm base from which to move forward. From there, the sky is the limit.

We hope the Adopt-a-Class project will give the kids even more options and possibilities to contemplate. We doubled the contribution for the sixth grade class—the oldest students at the school—so they could go someplace a little bit special.

The Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board has raised enough money to adopt at least one class. So now we just have two and a half classes left to adopt. At $600 per class, we need to raise just $1,500—and then every single class at Keaukaha Elementary School will be able to take an excursion each semester of this school year.

Next week we kick off the home stretch of our campaign by going on Big Island radio stations to talk about the Adopt-a-Class project.

Richard Ha writes:

Lately I have learned a lot about Keaukaha Elementary School.

Such as that the school cannot afford to take its students on field trips. The field trips its students usually take are walking excursions around the neighborhood.

My friend Duane Kanuha and I have this big idea, and we’re asking for your help: We want to send Keaukaha students on excursions that broaden their horizons and help them develop excitement for learning and positive attitudes about their place in the world. It’s my opinion that if Hawaiian kids are comfortable with their place in the world, they will not hesitate to participate in that world.

I’m specifically thinking about excursions to Hilo’s new astronomy center ‘Imiloa. ‘Imiloa is particularly powerful because it situates the Hawaiian culture and scientific knowledge in parity with the highest level of astronomy. It is a “discovery center” that celebrates both science (the world-class astronomy atop nearby Mauna Kea) and Hawaiian culture (including the marvels of traditional Hawaiian voyaging, navigation and much more).

It’s a place where Hawaiian kids see that there are careers and avocations directly related to their culture, and that these cultural traditions are important enough that they are celebrated in a world-class museum. And that the people pursuing these careers and passions are people who look just like them and their families.

Through my involvement with the advisory board of the UHH’s Keaholoa STEM program (a group that supports college-age Native Hawaiian students in Math and Sciences) I have learned that the most important years for a child are the formative years from Kindergarten to 8th grade. Children need to be engaged between K and 8th grade in order to be successful at the college level in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

I’ve also learned that between Kindergarten and 8th grade is when children develop their beliefs about their place in the world.

I compare the situation at Keaukaha Elementary to that of my grandson Kapono, a Kamehameha Schools student who thinks that all his school’s incredible facilities and programs are “normal.” It’s all he knows. Consequently, nothing is beyond his horizon.

I also think of St. Joseph’s School. Hamakua Farms donated some produce as part of a recent St. Joseph’s fundraiser, which the school held at Restaurant Kaikodo. The fundraiser raised $10,000.

These schools have the funds and the ability to nurture their students through those important “formative” years. But what about students at schools like Keaukaha Elementary School, which doesn’t have adequate funding and where students do not have access to the same sorts of resources?

I asked Lehua Veincent, Keaukaha Elementary School’s principal, how much it would cost to send each class at Keaukaha Elementary School on an excursion to ‘Imiloa twice a year. With a 50-passenger bus costing about $300, and entry fees at $5.50 per student, it would cost about $600 for each class to take one trip to ‘Imiloa, where students can see what Hawaiians have done, and can do.

‘Imiloa photo by Macario

Keaukaha School has seven grade levels (K – 6th), and just one class per grade. We are soliciting people to adopt one grade, for one semester, for $600 – which will send them on a field trip during that semester of the 2007-2008 school year.

For instance, one person (or group) would donate $600 in order to sponsor, say, the 3rd graders on a field trip to ‘Imiloa during the second semester.

We’ll let the teachers, of course, have final say where they go for a field trip. We just want to make sure that should they choose a visit to ‘Imiloa, money will not be a barrier.

After the excursion, the students will write letters thanking the sponsors and saying what they got from the trip, which we will post.

When you realize that because of lack of funding, Keaukaha Elementary students are confined to a walk around their neighborhood for field trips, you can see that this is a very specific place where we can make a real difference in kids’ lives.

My interest in Keaukaha Elementary School came about as a result of my work on a subcommittee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board that was working with the TMT people – the ones considering putting the Thirty Millimeter Telescope atop Mauna Kea.

I joined that group because I was determined that should this extensive, multi-million dollar telescope project come to Mauna Kea, it would actually benefit the people of Hawai‘i. We all know this isn’t the norm re: the telescopes atop Mauna Kea.

I started to ask some basic questions, such as: Where is the center of the universe for all things Hawaiian on this island? I determined it was Keaukaha Elementary School, because it has been in existence for 75 years and its primarily Hawaiian alumni are spread far and wide.

Then I asked myself, “What is the tangible benefit of astronomy in Hawai‘i to the Keaukaha community?” I could not find anything the community would agree was a direct benefit. But that’s a whole other story.

I learned a lot about Keaukaha Elementary School as a result of all this. And I found something very specific we can do to help its kids.

Here’s how it works. You can adopt-a-class for the whole $600, or be a partial sponsor by donating $300, $200 or $100. Click here to see who’s already sponsoring what class, and which classes are still available.

Download and fill out the commitment form, fax it back to me at 981-0756 (if you’re off-island, it’s area code 808), and we’ll update the website chart to include your name. Please mail me your check, made payable to the non-profit Keaukaha School Foundation, within 30 days (or by the start of the semester; those details are here).

And then sit back and know that you are making a real difference in the lives of children in our community.