Inflammation: The Silent Killer
Community Contributed
By Keone Chin
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Add your commentInflammation: The Silent Killer
Reader Contributed
By Keone Chin
Do you know what makes up your body? Our bodies are made up of billions of interconnected cells. To understand how our body works, we must first understand the biology behind it. The human body is not a machine – when a part breaks, we cannot just fix or change that part. The kicker that most doctors tend to forget, or maybe not acknowledge, is that the body is a “holistic system.” If there is an issue with one part of the body, it can be safely assumed that another portion could be affected as well.
What is inflammation?
Flex and Stretch
Community Contributed
By Alison Place
Looking to flex and stretch your mind and body? You might want to consider one of these free 21st Century classes being offered: Hula, Tahitian Exercise, Yoga and Kempo. All four are fun yet require some stretching – both physically and mentally.
The hula classes are offered on Mondays at the Mitchell Pauole Center. Val Tamehaga is the kumu for this and she is a patient, encouraging and gifted hula teacher. She offers three classes: a 4 p.m. class for beginning children, a 5 p.m. class for kids a little older; and an adult class at 6 p.m. You don’t have to have any experience dancing hula to join these classes.
Lei Crafters
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Community Contributed
By Alison Place
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Her students range from elementary-aged children to adults. Second grader Gabby Miguel was making a yarn lei, her favorite. Linaka Akutagawa and Journey Miguel, sixth graders, both enjoy making the yarn lei as well. Journey added, “The most challenging lei to make so far was the ribbon, but then I got used to it.”
Eventually the lei making will transition to fresher ingredients. The class will be making ti-leaf, plumeria, koa seed, and haku, utilizing kukui leaves, palapalai ferns and other fresh fauna.
The lei making class is free and is sponsored by the 21st Century Grant: Connecting Molokai M’s: “Me, My Mind, My Mana`o”. Classes are Mondays through Thursdays from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Kilohana cafeteria. For more information about this or other 21st Century classes, contact Joshua Adachi at 553-1730. For more information about other 21st Century classes at Kilohana, call Richard Stevens at 558-2200.
Big Prize for Student Filmmaking Contest
Oceanic Time Warner News Release
Beep, beep! Oceanic Time Warner Cable has launched its first ever Road Runner High School High Speed Video Contest, inviting high school students from across the state to test their filmmaking skills for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 for their school’s Multimedia Department. Students are challenged with creating a short video of 90 seconds or less that creatively answers the question, “What Does Road Runner Do For You?”
Decision Time
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“Who shook his hand?” Iza Rapanot asked, pointing to an unlucky boy near the front of the class. Three students nearby raised their hands.
“You all now have herpes!” Rapanot announced over the students’ groans.
Rapanot, who works at the Women’s Health Clinic at Molokai General Hospital, had come to Molokai Middle School to talk to students about abstinence, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
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The workshop was part of the school’s annual Leadership Day last Friday sponsored by the afterschool program Uplink. Students learned about sex, drugs and how to stay safe – all in ways meant to grab their attention and connect the classroom to real life.
To demonstrate how easily STDs can spread, Rapanot had asked the kids mingle and – innocently enough – shake hands and high five each other. Now, as they squirmed with embarrassment, she launched into a discussion of herpes symptoms while an aid passed around pictures.
In a classroom down the hall, staff from Alu Like were drawing on cultural values – koa, malama and aloha – in their discussion on the dangers of drug use.
“To malama, or take care, means to care for the island, your community and most of all yourself,” Mark Crumption, a substance abuse counselor, told the students.
The room was set up like a movie theater. Crumption and other the counselors showed movie clips and music videos to illustrate their points and grab the kids’ attention.
“At this age, they want all senses touched,” he said – sight, sound, even smell and taste, thanks to the theater-style popcorn stand in the back of the classroom.
A Leg Up
Uplink – Uniting Peer Learning, Integrating New Knowledge – is a state-wide program run by the Department of Human Services. It began at Molokai Middle School in 2004.
Aside from the annual leadership day, Uplink hosts service workshops and off-island trips, basketball scrimmages and volleyball tournaments. After last week’s workshops, students were treated to a dance, movie night and sleepover in the cafeteria.
“Even though we have all these fun activities, out main focus is the five C’s,” said program coordinator Hulu Joao, referring to Uplink’s mantra – connection, confidence, character, competence and contribution.
“We’re trying to help kids make better decisions,” she said.
It seems to be working. After the drug-use prevention class, eighth-graders Kristin Tancayo and Kelsie Espiritu-Tanabe said they took away more than the standard just-say-no spiel.
“We learned about courage,” Tancayo said, “and how…”
“…you can use it to inspire others,” Espiritu-Tanabe finished.
Mental Health Services Get a Boost
Take a walk down Manako Lane in Kaunakakai on any given weekday and you will notice an unassuming green house nestled in the corner, buzzing with traffic. Several days a week, mental health patients gather at this spot – known as the clubhouse – which they describe as a place of solace and understanding.
“We get to do activities, talk with each other, keep our minds busy,” said Paul Fischer, who visits the clubhouse regularly.
The Hana Ka Lima Clubhouse is a mental health drop-in center, serving about 70 Molokai residents suffering from mental illnesses. Joe Childs, facility director and case manager, helps reintegrate members into the community through counseling, work programs and therapeutic activities, such as gardening and cooking.
Minimart, Laundromat Burglarized
Two Kaunakakai businesses were broken into last week, though in both cases damages were minimal.
Early on the morning of Aug. 17, a thief cut the power to Molokai Minimart and kicked through the door. His target was apparently a cash register box, which was the only item he made away with, but owner Kirt Greenman said it was empty – he always empties the register after closing.
“It’s just bad business practice not to do that,” Greenman said.
The incident was captured on security cameras and Greenman uploaded the footage to YouTube last week (search “Molokai Minimart”). In it, the thief appears frantic and is in and out of the store in less than 15 seconds.
Immigration Benefits Made Easier
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) News Release
For the first time, the USCIS has proposed a standardized form to waive fees for financially disadvantaged individuals seeking immigration benefits.
The proposed fee waiver form is the product of extensive collaboration with the public. In meetings with stakeholders, USCIS heard concerns about the criteria for applying for benefits.
Ground Control to Molokai
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When school starts next week, Kaunakakai Elementary teacher David Gonzales will have a What I Did on My Summer Vacation story to rival that of any of his fifth grade students.
Earlier this month, Gonzales spent a week learning the ins-and-outs of space exploration at Educators to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. He was the only teacher from Hawaii among the camp’s 120 participants, who represented 17 states and 13 countries.
In classes, experiments and mission simulations, Gonzales learned about rockets, space craft and the history of space flight. There were also guest lectures from NASA astronauts and engineers from the aerospace company Boeing, which sponsored the camp.
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Now back, he is anxious to put what he learned there to use in the classroom -- incorporating it not just in science and technology lessons but in math, language arts and history too, aided by lessons plans and materials supplied by camp organizers.
Gonzales also plans to organize a similar space camp here this year, which will give him a chance to break out the flight suit he brought home with him from Alabama. In bringing the rocket-launching and star-gazing to Molokai, Gonzales said he hopes to inspire students.
“Maybe someday someone from Molokai will be going to Mars,” he said.
Gonzales is already passing his enthusiasm for science onto his students. He helps teach afterschool robotic classes at Kaunakakai, where kids build working robots using LEGOs -- and learn biomedical technology and engineering concepts along the way. Last year, Gonzales’ team of students took first place in the presentation category at the state robotics competition.
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