Category Archives: Education

Education, Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea: The Beginning of “Doing It Right”

The Thirty Meter Telescope project is getting ready to submit its draft EIS.

When I volunteered for the Thirty Meter Telescope committee of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board nearly three years ago, I said: “If the TMT is to come here, we need to do it right.”

There needed to be big changes:

  • We needed to make sure that the mountain was under the control of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Mauna Kea is the kuleana of Big Islanders, and this was an important change. It happened. A rule making bill passed through the legislature, which gave the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo enforcement powers to protect the mountain.
  • We agreed with Judge Hara that a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) needed to be done. The CMP has been done.
  • We’ve said from the start that $1/year rent is not acceptable anymore. Instead of $50 for 50 years, let’s start at $1 million/year, which would be $50 million for the education of our keiki from kindergarden to 12th grade.

As I said nearly three years ago: “If the TMT is to come here, we need to do it right.”

This is the beginning of doing it right.

Community, Education, Science

‘Amounting to Something’

I recently read a nice article in West Hawaii Today of a young person, Mike Rasay, who came out of a small rural school in South Kona.

The 1997 Konawaena graduate idolized our Kona-born and -raised astronaut Ellison Onizuka, and is now doing things he could not have imagined just a few years ago — such as serving as a “ground segment lead in Tuesday’s launch of a NASA microsatellite to study space’s affect on cells in long-duration space travel.”

These are the kinds of things that happen when students are influenced by a special teacher, inspired by surrounding events and supported as they pursue their dreams.

All Big Island students now go on excursions to ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, where they are awed and inspired by stories of astronomy and Hawaiian culture. If the Thirty Meter Telescope, the best telescope in the whole world, comes here with a new paradigm of support for local communities and education for young students, more people like Mike Rasay will find themselves being able to do the unimaginable.

Rocket science: Konawaena grad contributing to NASA mission

by Chelsea Jensen
West Hawaii Today
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
Monday, May 4, 2009 8:55 AM HST

Never let graduating from a school in Hawaii keep you from accomplishing your dreams.

“I have been on the bad end of the comments where people say ‘you’re never going to amount to anything. You’re never going to have a chance to do anything you want to so there’s no sense in trying,'” said Mike Rasay, a 1997 graduate of Konawaena High School who will serve as a ground segment lead in Tuesday’s launch of a NASA microsatellite to study space’s affect on cells in long-duration space travel.
…
“I never thought I would get into doing space missions. You never really think it’s possible,” said Rasay. “I always feel like I proved the naysayers wrong and just have been able to break through all of the negative generalizations about the students from Hawaii.”

Read the rest of the article at West Hawaii Today.

Community, Education, Sustainability

Mai Ka Mala‘ai: Diabetes Education Program

When Nani Rothfus, Nutritionist at Hilo’s Native Hawaiian Health Care Organization Hui Malama Ola Na ‘Oiwi, set up her booth at the recent E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival, she brought dirt, seeds and egg cartons so kids could participate in a hands-on activity.

Why plant seeds?

Along with Edna Baldado, Rothfus coordinates Mai Ka Mala‘ai, (“From The Garden”), a diabetes education program funded through the Native Hawaiian Health Department of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

It’s a 10-week educational program that teaches participants how to manage their diabetes.

“The really neat thing about the program is that we deliver a 4 x 4 box to each of our clients,” she says. “Richard has been so generous in providing the seedlings. We fill the boxes with soil and have a couple volunteer gardeners who teach them how to plant the seeds.”

They take home the cartons and tend their seeds over the course of the workshop, and hopefully beyond. “The idea is for them to get some physical activity,” she says, “and also to eat from the garden and to share from the garden. It’s also something for them to be able to bond with each other over. When they first come into the program, they may not say a word to each other. Once they have their garden and I ask, ‘How is your garden growing?’ everybody talks!’”

She says that Mai Ka Mala‘ai also teaches what’s taught in other diabetes education classes. “What diabetes is, medications, how to monitor your blood sugar, healthy recipes, how much to eat,” she lists. “But there’s a component of teaching traditional values, too,” she says.

She describes the five cultural values they incorporate into the program:

  • Malama – Taking care of someone; (“And it’s part of our name.”)
  • Aloha – Making sure when people come and when they leave we speak to them, acknowledge them
  • Kuleana – Making sure they understand that even though they come to us and we give them skills, they have to take care of themselves
  • Ho‘ihi – Respecting one another; when somebody shares something it’s important for all of us to listen and learn from it
  • Ho‘omanawanui – Being patient with one another; all are at different levels of their conditions.

The class of 16 students meets every Thursday night at Hui Malama Ola Na ‘Oiwi’s Railroad Avenue office for 10 weeks. There are three such classes a year.

Rothfus says they encourage the person with diabetes to bring along family members to learn and support the person with diabetes.

And she says the workshops are very popular. When they started offered them in 2006, she says it was a lot of work finding people to enroll. “Now most of them don’t want to leave the class when it ends. They’ve got tremendous support from the class. They tell other people they know and we have people lining up.”

The current class just got their box and seedlings last week. Now, with the storm that’s flooded East Hawai‘i, she says, “their gardens are just floating.”

But presumably they will be patient, ho‘omanawanui, and will malama, take care of, their seedlings, because it’s their kuleana, their responsibility. And Mai Ka Mala‘ai will help them along the way.

Community, Education, Hawaiian Role Models

Lehua Veincent: 2009 Distinguished Alumni

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On February 27th, Lehua Mark Veincent was awarded a 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards banquet.

Known affectionately by many as “Kumu Lehua,” Lehua Mark Veincent is on the vanguard of Hawaiian language immersion education. The Hawaii Island native, with genealogical ties to Ka’u, Puna and Keaukaha, earned dual degrees at UH-Hilo – a BA in Hawaiian studies and a BBA in business in 1988, plus teacher certification in 1990.
Lehuaveincent
He has also earned two master’s degrees from UH Manoa, in curriculum and instruction in 1999, and in educational administration in 2002.

He has served as a teacher at Keaukaha School in Hilo, Pa‘ia Elementary School on Maui and Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniopu‘u when it was established in 1994. He has taught kindergarten through 12th grades, and has also served as a lecturer and supervisor in the teacher education program at UH-Hilo.

For more than two decades, he has taught and coordinated the Hawaiian language, literature, and cultural classes for the DOE Community School for Adults. He served as producer, host, curriculum developer, and instructor of ITV Hawaiian Language Conversation through a partnership between Hilo Community School for Adults and Pacific Resources for Education and Learning.

In 2001, Veincent co-founded the Ke Ana La‘ahana Public Charter School, a grades 7-12 Hawaiian cultural-based school within Keaukaha School. He has served as a state resource teacher in Hawaiian studies and language, vice principal at Hilo Intermediate and Hilo High Schools, and principal of Ke Ana La‘ahana.

Veincent is currently principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, a K-6 school on Hawaiian Home Lands, which has gained recognition as one of the schools meeting annual yearly progress goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Despite the long hours required of an administrator, Veincent continues to serve as coordinator of the Keaukaha night tutorial program for grades K-12 and summer school programs for high school students of Keaukaha with Aunty Luana Kawelu of the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center, as he has for 12 years. He also continues to teach Hawaiian language in the evenings in Keaukaha and recently at the Kulani Correctional Facility.

I first met Kumu Lehua three years ago after volunteering to serve on the Thirty-Meter Telescope committee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board. When talking about Mauna Kea one automatically thinks Hawaiian culture and specifically about Keaukaha, since it is the longest-lived Hawaiian Homes project on the Big Island – more than 75 years in existence. At Keaukaha, the elementary school is the center of the community. And Kumu Lehua is the principal of Keaukaha Elementary School.

I introduced myself and explained that I wanted to know what benefits he thought might be appropriate for a project such as the TMT. I went on to suggest that we might ask for full scholarships for a few students to attend the best schools in the nation.

He asked me in a very sincere way: “What about the rest?” I could feel my ears getting warm. Indeed. What about the rest? I felt pretty stupid. I learned a lot from Kumu Lehua.

I returned to chat with Kumu Lehua many times. I started to see how personally involved he was with the students. He included the community and the culture into the fabric of school life. The school’s motto is “Got Pono?” “Do the right thing” is a basic tenet at Keaukaha School, and Kumu Lehua makes sure that everyone lives it.

About a year and a half ago, I was sitting with Kumu Lehua and his staff at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center when a ripple went through the group. They had just heard that Keaukaha Elementary School had improved in its No Child Left Behind annual ratings. Some of the teachers were in tears. And then a year later, when the school was improved two years in a row, it made the front page of the Hilo paper as one of a mere handful of schools that had achieved special status.

Under Kumu Lehua, Keaukaha Elementary School had become a role model. UNBELIEVABLE!

Kumu Lehua is not a talker, he is a doer. I have enormous respect for him. Now that he has the kids at the elementary schools operating at such a high level, we must figure out how to keep them engaged so they can achieve their highest potential. If Keaukaha Elementary can get such good results in the public school system, maybe we can learn something from them?

I am very proud to say that I know Kumu Lehua.

Community, Education

Distinguished Alumni Carol Ginoza-Arakaki & Ron Terry

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June and I attended the Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards ceremonies for the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo last week.

Representative Clift Tsuji, Margaret Ushijima and Senator John Ushijima received the Distinguished Service Award.

The Distinguished Alumni awards went to Carol Ginoza-Arakaki and Ron Terry, and that was especially meaningful for me.

I knew Carol Ginoza-Arikawa when we were both new real estate sales people working for Ala Kai Realty in the mid ’70s. She was more senior than me. We’ve been friends ever since.

The thing I remember most from those early days was that Carol was absolutely unequivocally ethical in all her dealings. Everything was absolutely clear to her. Now if I have a property to rent, I know that I can call her and know without a doubt everything will be fine.

Carol ginoza arikawa Carol is a 1973 graduate of UH Hilo with degrees in both English and Social studies. She founded Ginoza Realty, Inc. in 1982 and remains its principal broker and president.

She serves on many business organizations. Her community service includes membership on the Kuikahi Mediation Board of Directors since 2006, and also served as its fundraising co-chair the past three years. She served as treasurer of Hilo Little League from 1997-2006, and served double-duty as its secretary from 2000-2006. She was also on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Hilo from 2003-2006.

She has a long record of service to UH Hilo. She chaired the UH Hilo Athletic Fund Drive from 1992-1995, and has served on the UH Hilo Athletics Advisory Board since 2003. She is a charter member of Hui Ka‘ua, seving on various committees. Her company donated funds to furnish the Vulcan softball team in 2003. In 2007, she contributed toward the UH Hilo Performing Arts “Name A Seat” campaign, and she is the newest member to join the Performing Arts Center’ Advisory Committee.

Although I don’t know Ron Terry personally, I very much related to his experiences. He said that he started UH Hilo as a red-haired kid with an Afro from Puna. He came from a modest background and he and his sister were the first in their family to go to college. He received financial assistance, which made it possible for him to graduate from UH Hilo with a geography degree. With encouragement from his teachers at UH Hilo, he later went on to get a doctorate degree at LSU. The way he told the story was very inspiring.

In June 2008, Terry established the Geography Founders Scholarship, naming the $25,000 endowed scholarship after UH Hilo Geography Department founders Drs. Jim and Sonia Juvik, Jim Kelly and Jack Healy, who all inspired and encouraged him to continue his education after earning his degree at UH Hilo.RonTerry

I was fortunate myself to work with Sonia Juvik and the Keaholoa STEM Native Hawaiian program. She knew I was very interested in contributing to the program and she gave me that opportunity. I can relate to how grateful Ron felt.

In 1992, he started Geometrician Associates. His company has now completed more than 100 Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statement documents.

In 2004, Terry was selected as a member of the Mauna Kea Management Board, which is an advisory group to UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng in the management of the Mauna Kea Science Reserve. Since 2006, he has served as its second vice chair, has worked to revive the Environment Committee and was overseeing completion of Mauna Kea’s first Natural Resource Management Plan.

Three years ago, I volunteered to be on the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board’s newly formed Thirty-Meter Telescope committee, and since then I have learned a lot about the Mauna Kea Management Board’s efforts to take care of Mauna Kea.

The first thing to remember and understand is that it is a volunteer position. Members do this work because they want to do it; they aren’t forced to. Dr. Ron Terry not only volunteered to do this job without pay, he had the educational background that enables him to do it well. And, being a person who owes the University a lot and who loves the Big Island, he wants to make sure that it is done right.

In our changing futures we will need to take care of our whole community, make more friends and be closer to our families. Carol Ginoza-Arakaki and Dr. Ron Terry are inspirational examples of people doing just that.

Community, Education

The Hawai‘i Island School Garden Network

Nancy Redfeather was the one at the recent E Malama ‘Aina festival making cornhusk dolls with kids who stopped by her Hawai‘i Island School Garden Network (HISGN) booth. How unexpected, and fun, is that?!

Sitting
That’s Nancy above in the brown t-shirt

Two girls
Girls with their cornhusk dolls

The year-and-a-half-old School Garden Network program assists Big Island schools and teachers with everything they need to operate school garden programs. “Resources, curriculum, funding opportunities, volunteers, events, media and professional development,” says Redfeather, who is the School Garden Network’s director. In addition to planning, writing and assisting programs, she visits at least 10 Big Island schools every month.

She talks about how disconnected children have become from their food, from nature and from knowing about ecosystems. “Children today don’t know a great deal about where their food comes from,” she says. “Does it grow on a tree, or a bush, or? They’re spending a lot more time inside than ever before, and eating way more processed foods, and they suffer from obesity and early-onset adult diabetes, things that even 10 to 15 years ago were unheard at the rates we are seeing today.”

With this program, which is at many public, private and charter schools around the island, they learn to grow food and sometimes prepare it. “They are amazed at how good fresh foods taste,” she says. “Especially ones they grow.”

“Moving children into hands-on outdoor classrooms improves their ability to learn in the classroom,” she says, “and assists them in deepening their classroom studies in science, math language arts and social studies. The garden is a living laboratory where curriculum can come to life, and the lessons of life are experienced on every day. These changes in the children can lead to changes in their family, too.”

The School Garden Program, started in 2007, is sponsored by the Kohala Center. “The idea for the program began with the Rocky Mountain Institutes Whole Systems Report for Hawai‘i Island, which was prepared for the Omidyar family on O‘ahu,” she says. “It was one of 12 ideas presented to move agriculture forward on Hawai‘i Island.”

Three girls

Three kids

At the E Malama ‘Aina festival, she set up a “Hawai‘i Island School Garden Network Student Farmers Market.” Students came from Pa‘auilo Elementary and Honoka‘a Elementary, and the Hawai‘i Sustainable Education Initiative in Honoka‘a brought a big bus full of teachers, students and some parents.

“They all brought food, value-added products and plants to sell and they sold almost everything,” she says. “The public was very supportive. We also had a craft area where we made ‘corn dolls’ from cornhusks. I grew a lot of corn last summer and had saved all the husks. It was a lot of fun.”

She says it was really a neat event. And she speaks highly of Richard and his having put on the festival in the first place.

“Richard is a cornerstone of our agriculture for the future,” she says, “as he is looking at systems and the future – something not very many people dare to do. I have a lot of respect for his work!”

Education, Mauna Kea, Peak Oil

Connecting the Dots

By now, most of us know that the supply of oil is not endless.

• Oil provided the energy to build this incredibly complex society.
• And oil supplied the energy to grow our food.

Now it’s like an inverted pyramid – only a few farmers are needed to feed all the people.

As oil supplies decline though, we will have to use more human brainpower to maintain our lifestyle. We need the pyramid to flip right side up again, and have as its base more farmers and other smart people who can build and fix things.

Local craftsman, and those who can avoid the oil input costs, will be in demand. There was an article in the Honolulu Advertiser last week about Joe Pacific Shoe Company. Its business is growing by leaps and bounds, because in a world of declining oil supplies, those who can build and fix things are increasingly in demand.

Our community colleges are a locus of education that will be more and more appreciated. Whatever we can do now for keiki education will help future generations survive out here in the middle of the ocean.

The TMT subcommittee of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, on which I serve, is now working on developing a non-profit entity to capture funds, from the astronomy community and others, that will be used to educate Big Island students. It will be broad-based rather than just science-based. We want it to be relevant to the changing world.

And we are striving to make sure that the committee members who decide where the funds go are people who are looking out for the greater good – as well as being people with a special awareness of the host Hawaiian culture and that we all live out here together in the middle of the ocean.

It is very encouraging that a school like Keaukaha Elementary here in Hilo, a school that was underperforming for as long as most people can remember, could turn itself around and become a role model of exceptional performance. This proves that we can do this for all K through 6th grades. And also that we need to connect the dots for the kids in 7th through 12th grades, to help them get into the community colleges and the university. If kids believe they can, then they will.

The Thirty-Meter Telescope is a powerful force that can help us to connect the dots for these students. For eight or nine years, as the telescope is being built, there will be 300-plus construction and other jobs. After that there will be approximately 140 steady jobs, mostly support-type work that will be performed by local folks. These jobs will be steady – not affected by recessions, etc.

And the Thirty Meter folks are also committed to helping develop the workforce they need when “first light” takes place. Although there will be astronomy-type jobs for those who are so inclined, most of the jobs are other types of work.

I’ve been talking about these being changing times for quite awhile now, and I think most people see it by now. I think times will get harder than they are now, but it’s clear to me what we have to do to “connect the dots.” Much of it is about education, so that we are preparing our children and their children for a different type of future.

The TMT is one avenue that can substantially move us forward toward these goals. If we do it correctly, the whole island could become an educational role model, not just Keaukaha Elementary School.

Community, Education, Mauna Kea

Reaching For The Stars

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Richard Ha writes:

I’ve written here before about the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), a “new generation” telescope that may be sited here on Mauna Kea.

And I’ve written about how this project, unlike previous telescopes, is being discussed. I’m on the board of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, and we’ve made it clear that this can only happen if, unlike with previous telescopes, our people clearly benefit from it.

What I haven’t mentioned yet are the types of extensive benefits we are discussing:

• What if the TMT coming here meant disadvantaged Hawaiian (and other race) students can attend Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo for free?

• What if we develop a pathway for local people to fill jobs during the extensive construction and operating of the telescope?

• What if we collect all the funds attributable to astronomy and have that money administered by a group of wise people who are chosen specifically to allocate it to the education of this island’s keiki?

• And what if these credible people fund education programs about the Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian language, and about traditional ways of sustainability, the sciences, job skills and other subjects that prepare our children for a new world where we, living on the island of Hawai‘i, might have to survive on what exists here on our island?

• And what if this organization exists far into the future and benefits many generations to come?

What if, not at the summit though on Mauna Kea, the world’s finest and most powerful telescope looks back in time to the beginning, seeking the answer to the question, “Are we alone?”…

…while on the ground, the people have learned how to restore the ancient fish ponds, and are supplementing that with modern aquaculture methods that don’t require oil? And the people on the island’s windward side are using their abundant water to again grow kalo, and growing food with hydroponics, and as in pre-Western times they are able to feed everybody without depending on foreign oil?

It would be the best of the future and the best of the past. What if?

From the TMT:

May 15, 2008

 PASADENA, Calif.–After completing a worldwide survey unprecedented in rigor and detail of astronomical sites for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), the TMT Observatory Corporation board of directors has selected two outstanding sites, one in each hemisphere, for further consideration. Cerro Armazones lies in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and Mauna Kea is on Hawai’i Island.

The TMT observatory, which will be capable of peering back in space and time to the era when the first stars and galaxies were forming and will be able to directly image planets orbiting other stars, will herald a new generation of telescopes.

To ensure that proposed TMT sites would provide the greatest advantage to the telescope’s capabilities, a global satellite survey was conducted, from which a small sample of outstanding sites was chosen for further study using ground-based test equipment. This ground-based study of two sites in the northern hemisphere and three in the southern was the most comprehensive survey of its kind ever undertaken.

Atmospheric turbulence above each candidate site, and wind characteristics, temperature variations, amount of water vapor, and other meteorological data at some of the candidate sites, were continuously monitored for up to four years. Based upon this campaign, the TMT project will now further evaluate the best site in the northern hemisphere and the best site in the southern hemisphere.

“All five sites proved to be outstanding for carrying out astronomical observations,” said Edward Stone, Caltech’s Morrisroe Professor of Physics and vice chairman of the TMT board. “I want to congratulate the TMT project team for conducting an excellent testing program, not only for TMT but for the benefit of astronomical research in the future.” In addition to the “astronomical weather” at the sites, other considerations in the final selection will include the environment, accessibility, operations costs, and complementarities with other nearby astronomy facilities.

The next step in the site analysis process is the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will thoroughly evaluate all aspects, including environmental, cultural, socio-economic, and financial, of constructing and operating the Thirty-Meter Telescope in Hawai`i. An environmental impact statement for Cerro Armazones has already been completed and submitted to the Chilean government for their review.

The community-based Mauna Kea Management Board, which oversees the management of the Mauna Kea summit in coordination with the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, concurs that the Thirty-Meter Telescope should proceed with its EIS process. Regardless of whether Mauna Kea is selected as the Thirty-Meter Telescope site, information generated from the EIS will be useful in the management of Mauna Kea.

Henry Yang, TMT board chair and chancellor of UC Santa Barbara, expressed the gratitude of the board. “The selection of these top two candidate sites is an exciting milestone in the Thirty-Meter Telescope’s journey from vision to reality. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of our project team and the tremendous vision and support of the Moore Foundation and our international partners that have brought us to this point. We look forward to moving ahead rapidly and with all due diligence toward the selection of our preferred site.”

The TMT is currently in the final stages of an $80 million design phase. The plan is to initiate construction in 2010 with first light in early 2018. This project is a partnership between the University of California, California Institute of Technology, and ACURA, an organization of Canadian universities. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has provided $50 million for the design phase of the project and has pledged an additional $200 million for the construction of the telescope, and Caltech and the University of California each will seek to raise matching funds of $50 million to bring the construction total to $300 million.

“We look forward to the discussions with the people of Hawai’i and Chile regarding the opportunities to open a new era in astronomy in one of these two world capitals of astronomy,” says Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member. “Canadian scientists have partnered in the extensive site testing carried out by TMT and we are very pleased to see that it has led to two great options for TMT.”

TMT gratefully acknowledges support for design and development from the following: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and the National Science Foundation (USA).

Adopt-a-Class, Community, Education, Schools

In Good Standing!

I was so happy to receive this email a couple days ago. It’s from Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School. That’s the school we work with through our Adopt-a-Class program.

Kumu Lehua announced:  It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

On Friday, the local paper had a sub-headline: “31 of 42 Big Island Schools fail to make the grade.” Keaukaha School was one of the 11 schools that passed.

For as long as I can remember, 40 years at least, it was assumed that Keaukaha kids had a hard time doing schoolwork. Or maybe some people were assuming even worse.

That has now changed forever. Keaukaha Elementary has proved itself a role model as measured by modern methods.

Last year at this time, I heard whisperings that Keaukaha Elementary School had made progress with their ratings, and that with one more year of good results it would be removed from the list of schools to be restructured. Was it true? People were asking: could it be? Some were in tears.

A year later, and we have this incredible announcement.

It is much, much more than just an announcement. I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can only imagine what it must mean to the community, teachers, staff and especially to KUMU LEHUA.

Read the whole announcement, from Kumu Lehua Veincent, below:

To members of the Keaukaha Community Association, Keaukaha School Foundation, Keaukaha Parent-Teacher Association, Keaukaha School Community Council, Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, Kamehameha Schools, Ke Ana La’ahana PCS, Hamakua Springs, INPEACE/SPARK, and UH-Department of Education!

It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

We take one year at a time with new students, new attitudes, new behaviors, and new ways of learning guiding our next action step. We continue to build upon this dualistic approach to learning in not only maintaining our stance in achieving the standards set forth in our educational realm but also a standard set forth by our own kupuna, ‘ohana, and the history of a unique place of setting – our beloved Keaukaha. We move forward by looking backwards! We move forward with humility yet with focus and strength! We move forward with pono!

As business and educational partners to Keaukaha School, you have all kokua by embracing Keaukaha School and the many ways of learning that honors genealogy, history, and place! Your unconditional aloha to all of our keiki here at Keaukaha School is acknowledged and appreciated! The cliché that “we couldn’t have done it without you” extends farther — your support establishes the foundation from which learning takes place and empowers a community to do what is pono for all that live here!

I honor you, our faculty and staff, our ‘ohana, and our community.

Please share with your constituents at your respective agencies this voice of aloha and mahalo!

Me ke aloha nui ia ‘oukou a pau!

na’u, na Kumu Lehua

Community, Education, Sustainability

Sustaining

Yesterday was very interesting. I drove from Hilo to the Outrigger Hotel at Keauhou to give a thirty minute speech about sustainable agriculture at the third annual Kuleana Business Conference and Trade Show. It was part of the Kona Earth Festival, which has the slogan: “Island Self-Reliance Through Sustainable Living.”

A native Hawaiian speaker described us as floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a little life raft. It is hopeful to see that people are coming together to find ways to make our lives here sustainable.

Right after my talk, I was interviewed for a video documentary about sustainable agriculture issues, then participated in a 30-minute talk-story session on the radio station Lava 105. It was all very interesting and promising.

The most interesting thing I did yesterday, though, was a talk-story session with the interns in the Keaholoa STEM program at UH Hilo, which I rushed back to Hilo for. The students are preparing for next week’s ho‘ike, where they will report on their research projects. Some of the projects: the study of coral health at Vacation Land; alternate insect pollinators, other than bees, of the Big Island; the cultivation of edible limu, and other interesting topics.

These are our best and brightest native Hawaiian students of Science, Tech, Engineering and Math. We had a short discussion about bio fuels, genetically modified organisms, hydro- and geothermal power. It doesn’t get better than talking with the students. It was very stimulating and I am left with an encouraging feeling that our future is in good hands.