Ho`omana Hou School 4th Quarter Honor Roll
Honor Roll
Shaquille Rapanot McGuire: 3.69 GPA
Honorable Mention
Danielle Mersburg: 3.32
Kamohoali`i Gomes: 3.23
Rashel Ka`aikala: 3.21
Che Gonzales: 3.19
Mikayla Tengan: 3.18
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Island Youth
Add your commentHigh Tech Summer Camp Targets Wahine
Maui Economic Development Board News Release
Middle and high school students interested in the latest Digital Media and GIS technologies are encouraged to sign up for two exciting summer software camps scheduled at the Maui Research and Technology park this June.
Sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board’s Women in Technology (WIT) project, the Digital Media Camp will be held on June 13 -17 followed by the GIS Software Camp, June 23-24.
Designed to help students experience cutting-edge technology used to benefit major community projects, the Geographic Information System or GIS workshop will be taught by Diana Papini-Warren.
Grand Finale of the SUPAM Season
Community Contributed by Clare Seeger Mawae
Star Poets Celebrates Molokai Winners
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Community Contributed
By Diane Abraham
Molokai is an island full of talented young people. On May 15, 2011, Star Poets, which is a project of Windward Community College, the Hawaii Council for the Humanities, and the Hawaii Writing Project, had its 11th annual awards ceremony. Molokai, for the first time involving elementary students, produced two winning poets.
Alia-Marie Gomes Madela, a fourth grader at Kualapu`u School, along with Kahawai Tancayo, a fifth-grader in Kula Kaiapuni O Kualapu`u, wrote winning poems. Winning students received cash prizes and shared their poems at the ceremony at the beautiful Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College. The poems are judged anonymously; that is, the students’ names and schools are removed prior to being judged, so the officials have no idea whether they are reading a poem from a student at Iolani, Punahou or a school on Molokai. With over 2,100 entries, congratulations are due to these two young ladies on their writing skills and the depth of the content of their poems.
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Equally exciting for Alia-Marie and Kahawai is that they will be able to share their poems when the Honolulu Theater for Youth brings its annual production to Molokai. This year’s season is “Poetry Fever” and will highlight student poetry in a theatrical format. Stay tuned for a date!
Halawa: A Special and Sacred Place
by Alia-Marie Gomes Madela (fourth grade)
Halawa is on the eastern shore of Molokai.
It is a hard place to get to, you must really want to be there.
On the windy steep roads with many sharp curves,
You may be lucky to see Hawaii’s endangered nene goose.
To the sparkle of the year-long waterfall,
To the beach where the crabs crawl,
This is Halawa.
From the dark sand to the tall cliffs and
The circle bay,
This is Halawa.
It is a place for swimming and reflection,
It is a place that once was home to many ancient people.
This is Halawa.
The Baby `Ali`i
By Kahawai Tancayo (fifth grade)
He was born and supposed to die
Nae`ole saved him that night
The water is shining
The moon is hiding
As Nae`ole runs into the mountain
The baby, Kamehameha, doesn’t cry
As he looks at the night sky
Can they survive?
A Little Play, A Little Work
UPDATE -- CORRECTION
Summer days don’t have to be boring for the keiki of Molokai. Both parents and students can benefit from a variety of fun and educational programs on the island, such as 21st Century, Alu Like, and PALS.
Whether you’re a teenager looking to make a few bucks, or a five-year-old learning dance, summer programs are available now.
“Even though it is a small island, there is so much to do,” said Karen Deguilmo, recreation specialist for Maui County.
PALS
Ho`omana Hou Graduates Four
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Through tears and smiles, hugs and warm words, four students proudly graduated from Ho`omana Hou High School last Friday. The graduation ceremony – planned, organized and led by the students themselves – focused on ohana to demonstrate understanding of who they are and where they come from.
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While Ho'omana Hou is not an immersion language school, `olelo Hawaii plays an important in the curriculum for students to learn about protocol, history, and the Molokai environment, according to Karen Holt, school principal.
Their kumu tied a kihei around the shoulders of the four students that they had each hand-painted, symbolizing status and maturity, according to Ho`omana Hou teacher Loretta Ritte. Students’ parents bestowed a kukui lei around their necks in recognition of the knowledge they gained, and their grandparents placed lei po`o (head garlands) upon them. The lei po`o were gathered and woven by the students themselves from native rainforest plants, symbolizing patience, planning and spirituality.
Speaker Rapanot-McGuire reflected on all his class has been through and the good times they shared – “We will cherish the memories and laughs,” he said.
Two of the four graduates are already enrolled in college, while the other two plan to apprentice in the electrician and mechanic trades, according to Holt.
The school’s curriculum is based on Molokai’s resources, focusing on the island's environmental and cultural heritage. It provides hands-on opportunities to learn academic skills in outdoor settings.
Ho`omana Hou is licensed and its credits are accepted by colleges and vocational schools in Hawaii and on the mainland. The school is now accepting applications for new students in grades 9-12; to apply, contact the Molokai Community Service Council at 553-3244 or mcsc@molokai.org.
Molokai Wrestlers Strong in States
Community Contributed
By Randy Manley
On Saturday May 14, 58 wrestlers from the Molokai Wrestling Club participated in the Kid’s State Wrestling Championships at the Lahaina Civic Center on Maui. In all, 520 wrestlers representing 22 wrestling clubs from Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Hawaii Island and Lanai competed throughout the day.
Wrestlers from age four through adult were grouped in seven divisions and a variety of weight classes.
At the end of the day, 34 Molokai wrestlers finished in the top three in their respected divisions. As a team the Molokai Club finished the day in fourth place with 76 total team points, just behind third place Maui Central (77 pts.), second Napili Surf Riders (80 pts.), and first place Maui Razorbacks (89 pts.).
Stepping Up for Success
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A new state educational incentive program has come to Molokai to help students excel rather than simply meet the status quo.
Now in its second year, the Step Up Scholars program encourages eighth and ninth graders to earn the state Board of Education (BOE) Recognition Diploma. To receive the recognition award, students pledge to achieve higher than required academic accomplishments during the next four years of high school. The program partners with individual schools to help provide tutoring, financial aid advice and free SAT training.
So far, 15 students from the class of 2014 and 18 students from the class of 2015 have pledged as Step Up Scholars. State-wide Step Up Program Manager, Cherry Torres, is recruiting more middle school students for the program’s third year.
“The president and our own governor are pushing for education reform,” Torres said, a 2000 Molokai High graduate. “I think it’s not so much a reform as a community-wide effort to help out statewide the education system.”
When students pledges to earn the Recognition Diploma, they commit to extra initiative: in addition to meeting standard high school diploma requirements, students must also complete AP English, an additional math class and a senior project.
Step Up recruits students at a transition time – on the cusp of high school – to ensure they begin thinking about their choices early.
“When [students] develop interests, by the time they realize the different classes they have to take, sometimes it’s too late,” Torres said.
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Torres said they are still accepting pledges from classes 2014 and 2015 for the next school year (2011-12) until May 31. Forms are available at stepuphawaii.org. For questions contact Torres at cherry@hawaii.edu or call 1-866-808-4327.
Peace Poets
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Community Contributed
By Greta Martinez, Kualapu`u School teacher
During the months of January and February, Kualapu`u School students in second, third and fourth grades immersed themselves in the art of writing poetry. Students focused on the theme of peace and wrote haiku, acrostic, free verse and rhyming poetry. Their poems were entered in the state-wide 12th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poem contest, organized by the International Peace Poem Project on Maui.
Fifteen students from Kualapu`u School were proud winners of first and second prizes for Maui County; 12 students traveled to Maui last week to read their poems to an audience of about 100 families and receive their awards from the office of Mayor Arakawa.
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Approximately 2,000 students statewide entered the contest; about 800 of them were from Maui County. This was a memorable life-changing experience for these young poets. They were beaming with confidence and pride. Six poems written in Hawaiian language won first and second prize awards, the only poems received in Hawaiian language statewide, and two of them received honorary mention. It was truly a joy and treat to listen to over 80 students read their peace poems with pride and passion!
The International Peace Poem Project has been holding Peace Poetry contests in the state of Hawaii for the past 12 years. Their goal is to write the longest poem in the world, about peace. All students’ poems have been added to the Peace Poem Scroll which measures about three feet in diameter. If you would like to add your two lines about peace to the scroll, e-mail Melinda Gohn at peace@maui.net
Peace
By: Ramie Ann DeVera (1st prize winner grade 3A)
Peace sounds like snow falling down the sky
Peace looks like kindness in you
Peace tastes like the snow in your mouth
Peace is like smelling the flowers falling
Maluhia
By: Keahe Ross (1st prize winner grade 3 Hawaiian Immersion)
Maluhia ke kokua ana
i kekahi i kekahi a ke aloha
Ka malama i ke kahi i kekahi
Ka mahalo ana i kekahi i kekahi
Maluhia ka haka e ki ke’enei
Translation: Peace is helping each other
Peace is taking care of each other
Peace is thanking each other
Peace is giving to each other
Peace is my heart beating
Haiku Peace Poem
By: Stasia Kaahanui (1st prize winner grade 4A)
Peace is like the world
That is filled with happiness
It’s gathering hearts
Kaunakakai ACE Students Acing
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Community Contributed
By Cheryl Corbiell, ACE Reading Coordinator
Every day, for 30 minutes, one-on-one tutoring with ACE Reading transformed 17 Kaunakakai Elementary School students in first, second and third grades into excellent readers. Their accomplishments were acknowledged by parents and teachers at a graduation party last week.
Kaunakakai’s School’s ACE Reading program, which means Accelerated Community Empowerment Reading, emphasizes five critical reading skills, using cutting-edge technology to teach students not only the mechanics of reading but how to understand what they read. Students attend the after-school program to work one-on-one with a reading tutor.
ACE Reading uses multi-media technology and a technique called video feed forward, which shows a student reading fluently and answering questions in complete sentences. The edited videos model excellence in reading and comprehension.
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“The students see themselves reading with positive reading behaviors, and it instills a mental picture of success in the student. The students become their own models,” said Dr. Caryl Hitchcock, one of two program developers. Through this observational learning technique, students made significant gains in fluency, comprehension and confidence.
All students took home their video of the skills they learned and the gift of a book to read over the summer with compliments of the First Book program. Mahalo to Kaunakakai School’s principal, Janice Espiritu, for her enthusiastic support; Bob Underwood for the use of his classroom; the elementary teachers for supporting the students; the ACE Reading coaches (Ashley Reyes-Connelly, Olivia Riel, Darlene Heil and Jylyn Stubbs); Site Coordinator (Cheryl Corbiell); and to the grant (21st Century CLC) that provided funding for this program.
The ACE Reading Program began at Kaunakakai Elementary School in September 2003 and meets current state of Hawaii literacy standards.
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