Island Youth

A’o Aku; A’o Mai: What I Learn, I Teach

Wednesday, March 1st, 2023

Community Contributed

By Sara Jane Larkin, Teacher

Hawaii schools follow the Na Hopena A’O/HA framework.  This framework provides a system of expectations for all in Hawaii to aspire to.   HA means breath and the components of the framework are an acrostic of the letters in breath; belonging, responsibility, excellence, aloha, total wellbeing, and Hawaii.  With Makahiki season upon us, the talk of champions and excellence is constant.  In first grade at Kilohana School, I wanted to make time to enhance our total well being as well as our sense of excellence.  A warrior is someone who is as mentally strong and prepared as well as physically strong and prepared. …

Raising Funds to Open Doors

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023

By Jack Kiyonaga, Reporter 

Thirteen promising Molokai High School Students are one step closer to their goal of traveling to visit East Coast colleges and career sites. The Molokai community came out to help them get there at a fundraiser last Saturday. 

Molokai College and Career Club (CCC) has been taking MHS students to the mainland for college visits for the past nine years. 

The trips are largely the brainchild of MHS teacher Ric Ornellas. Ornellas, a Molokai native, spent years of his life living in New York City following a college education at Middlebury College.  It has been his goal to expose Molokai students to broader education potentials and possibilities. …

A’o Aku; A’o Mai: What I Learn, I Teach

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023

Community Contributed

By Sara Jane Larkin, Teacher

Hawaii schools follow the Na Hopena A’O/HA framework.  This framework provides a system of expectations for all in Hawaii to aspire to.   HA means breath and the components of the framework are an acrostic of the letters in breath; belonging, responsibility, excellence, aloha, total wellbeing, and Hawaii.  With Makahiki season upon us, the talk of champions and excellence is constant.  In first grade at Kilohana School, I wanted to make time to enhance our total well being as well as our sense of excellence.  A warrior is someone who is as mentally strong and prepared as well as physically strong and prepared. …

Victory for Robotics Team

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

By Jack Kiyonaga, Community Reporter 

On Jan. 28, the Kaunakakai School Robotics Team achieved a unique feat for Molokai. 

The team, coached by Andrea Yuen and Joe Howe, won the highest prize, the Excellence Award, at the 2023 Vex IQ Elementary State Championship. 

The Excellence Award is “given to a team who exemplifies overall excellence in creating a high- quality robotics program,” said Edwin Mendija, a robotics coach and supporter of the team. The criteria for such an award includes not just doing well in the competition itself, but also having proper documentation and explaining the robot to the judges. 

“As their coach, they competed strongly,” especially in the engineering notebook and judges’ interview, said Yuen. …

Computer Science Innovation at Kaunakakai School

Wednesday, February 8th, 2023

By Jack Kiyonaga, Community Reporter 

The students in Kawika Gonzales’ fifth grade class at Kaunakakai School are excited about learning two subjects that aren’t often studied together: computer science and Hawaiian culture.  Thanks to a three-year grant from the University of Hawaii, Gonzales is teaching a program he believes has led to substantial progress in computer science education. 

The grant focuses on the role of culturally relevant computing by combining aspects of computer science with Hawaiian history and traditions. 

Dan Hoffman, one of the University of Hawaii faculty members directing the grant, explained that “the grant is designed around the idea that ‘curriculum is not enough’”. …