Education

Living Science

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Living Science

Ever wanted to be a detective or a doctor? Students at Kilohana School got a chance to be both as they worked to solve medical mysteries. Bishop Museum’s traveling Holoholo Science program visited the school last week as part of their state-wide tour. The program also made stops at Kualapu`u and Maunaloa schools during their week-long stay on Molokai.

This year’s Holoholo theme for their evening program, medical mysteries, offered students the opportunity to diagnose medical scenarios and explore the field of health. Keiki learned how to pick healthy food groups, identify lice, monitor heart rates, and much more.

“[My favorite part] is the skeleton table because you get to see whether the bones are broken or not,” said Kilohana second-grader Elisia. She said she aspires to “do something in science.”


That’s part of the program’s goal – to make science more accessible to kids through hands-on activities and encourage them to explore science fields as a career, according to Melody Chang, one of the museum’s program facilitators.

Hands-On
Holoholo is an outreach program of Bishop Museum that has been making the rounds on neighbor islands since the 1990s. Along with making science exciting for kids, the curriculum is designed to help students meet academic benchmark standards. Topics cover many science-related fields, ranging from astronomy to ecology.

Kilohana Principal Richard Stevens described the program as “very hands on – the stuff that attracts kids.”

During a classroom workshop earlier in the day, students learned about the formation of the Hawaiian Islands by using tarps to act out the movement of the tectonic plates, according to Stevens.

“If we can’t take the kids out to see the world, we try to bring the world here to the kids,” he explained.

“I learned you have to balance your diet – you can’t eat too much of one thing,” said evening participant and Kaunakakai fourth-grader Gus, of an activity in which students chose foods that represented a healthy food groups.

In another activity, keiki learned proper tooth brushing technique using giant mouth models. “I also learned you have to brush your teeth for two minutes,” Gus said. “Sometimes I brush for less than that when I’m late for school.”

Papaya, Horses, Poop!

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Papaya, Horses, Poop!

Community Contributed

By Viola Mundrick-Wichman

The 4-H Clover Lopers are putting into action self-sufficiency and sustainability. How? By taking composted horse manure and using it as fertilizer in a field for organic papaya, and then using the ripened papaya as a natural dewormer and feeding it to their horses. Our sustainability project is generating income for club expenses and care of the horses.

Going green with our manure is the biggest benefit we can give back to the `aina and our fellow homesteaders.  At the same time we will be able to employ Molokai workers to help with land prep, harvesting and processing of the manure and organic papaya and other produce. We utilize homestead farm land that is not currently being farmed.

Our project encourages and teaches sustainability for home use (fruit for family and friends, manure for your garden) and self-sufficiency through sale of surplus crops for added income for the club. We’re teaching our keiki how a hobby can pay for itself and how that hobby can give back to the `aina. We are growing future ranchers, farmers, producers, land managers, etc. We had a lot of help in executing this program and now, a year later, we’re actually selling organic papaya in partnership with Grant Schule of Kumu Farms. 


What Is 4H
4-H Clover Lopers is a 4-H Chartered Club by the national headquarters at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Our organizer and club leader is Viola Mundrick-Wichman, with Donna Howard, Liz Price and Marshall Racine as project leaders; Louise Manley, Alicia Montemayor, Kelly Go, Chris McGuire, Christian Kaalekahi, and Meg Fox as parent volunteers.  The diversity of our “management” team is quite unique in that we have a wealth of knowledge to draw from – farmers, educators, nurses, business entrepreneurs and mothers.

Our club is unique in that we are the only 4-H Horsemanship Club in Maui County that does not require you to have a horse to join.  Our greatest success is in our number of members.  We started in 2006 with five ambitious girls and, today we number 15 boys and girls; our membership has been as high as 35.

For more information call Viola Mundrick-Wichman at 560-6204.  To support or make a donation, contact 4-H Clover Lopers, PO Box 215, Ho`olehua 96729.

Runner Another Step Closer to States

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

The Molokai High School Farmers track and field team may have another state qualifier on their hands. Sophomore Akona Adolpho dropped time in his 800-meter race at last weekend’s Victorino Ohana Invitational at War Memorial stadium – and is 4.5 seconds away from the state qualifying time.

“With a little bit more focus in practice, and a little more push, I’m sure I’ll be able to get the techniques I need,” to qualify, Adolpho said.

“I’m really proud of the way he ran with such courage,” said coach Jessie Ford. Akona finaled in sixth place in the 800 at 2:11.43. He qualified with his personal best, 2:09.58.

Senior Kalei Adolpho qualified for states in the high jump at the last Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) meet.

Student Sonnets

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Student Sonnets

Submitted by Kumu Maile Naehu

The first and second grade students at Kilohana Elementary School wrote different forms of poetry in their classes, and some included drawings. Here are a few to enjoy.

Eagles are golden sparkly rings in a jewelry store.
An eagle is a carnivorous T. Rex stomping through the forest.
Eagles are beaked terradactyls [pterodactyls] flying over all volcanoes.
-    Malu Duquette, second grade

Barack Obama is a tall giraffe playing basketball.
Barack Obama is a thunderous applause.
Barack Obama is a cool shark hunting for a restaurant to eat.
Barack Obama
-    Maya Lima, second grade

Lazy
Blah, gray
Cooking, devouring, plaing
I am too lazy to make my favorite breakfast
T.V.
- Chaves Petronave, first grade

Inamona – Kukui nut
The inamona looks wonderful like tiny little fizz candy
The inamona sounds lovely like tiny rocks in a small bottle and like soft great music.
The inamona smells like ltos of bacon mixed with peanut butter.
The inamona taste like tasty mocha roasted with coffee beans.
The inamona feels like hard bumpy tiny rocks and soft sand crushed together.
The inamona makes my na`au feel wonderful like strawberry shortcake.
-    Elisia Poole, second grade

Friendly Matchup

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Friendly Matchup

Usually the Farmers only wear their white jerseys when they play off-island, but last Saturday’sbaseball team scrimmage required both jerseys, white and green. The Lanai Pinelads forfeited their scheduled dual matchup last weekend due to failure to meet minimum grade requirements. Instead, the senior boys battled it out with their underclassmen at Duke Maliu Field last Saturday morning. The underclassmen were ahead most of the game, but the seniors came back to tie the game 7-7, the final score through seven innings. 

Farmers Lose to Bears

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Farmers Lose to Bears

The Farmers volleyball team lost two full set matches against the Baldwin Bears last Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at the Barn. The Bears remain undefeated on the season, while the Farmers are now 2-4.

Friday night’s game started off with quick kills and well-coordinated blocks by the Farmers, which helped them win the first set 26-24, but they quickly lost their momentum and were downed in the second and third matches with scores of 22-25 and 19-25. Farmer David Gomes had eleven kills, 1 block and 1 ace in the game.


“We played much better today, but the errors cost us,” said coach Bill Dudoit.

The Farmers went on to make an impressive rally in the fourth match and win 25-13. The fifth match also started off well for the Farmers, but Baldwin was too much for Molokai and the Bears were able to close the deal 13-15.

“They weren’t dropping the ball today, “said Claude Kapuni, a senior.

Dahvin Spencer-Bassa also helped his team with his sixteen kills, while Nainoa Langer had four aces.

“As far as team, we did pretty good,” Langer said. “But we came up short making too many errors.”
The Farmers came out to redeem themselves on Saturday afternoon against Baldwin. They came on top after the first two sets, 25-12 and 20-12. But they could not contain the Bears.

The Farmers dropped the next three matches to Baldwin, 21-25, 22-25, and 11-15.

The boys’ volleyball team will play at home again next weekend against Seabury Hall.

Modern Kids, Old History

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Modern Kids, Old History

Students at Kualapu`u School transformed their auditorium into a multi-cultural mecca last Thursday with a school play about Hawaii’s history.

“I wasn’t nervous today,” said La`a Sumarnap, a sixth grader of Kualapu`u School.

Last Thursday’s play portrayed important events from Hawaii’s history, starting with the formation of Hawaii’s archipelago, to the banning of hula, and the migration of Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos who worked on Hawaii’s plantations.

“We made our drums out of tires and tape,” he said.

Kenilyn Nishihiri-Aki, a sixth grader at Kualapu`u , summed up the play.

“We all have aloha for this place where we live. We love the Hawaiian culture,” she said.

Big Awards at State Science Fair

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Community Contributed

By Amber (Momi) Afelin and Moriah Jenkins

Two Molokai students participated in this year’s State Science Fair, where both girls won more than $1,000 in prize money and awards for their innovative projects.

Electronic Communication

Big Awards at State Science Fair

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

By Amber (Momi) Afelin and Moriah Jenkins

Two Molokai students participated in this year’s State Science Fair, where both girls won more than $1,000 in prize money and awards for their innovative projects.

Electronic Communication
My project involved using NXT LEGO Mindstorms robots to question if my robot was capable of distinguishing a black ink line from various colors, called Walk the Line. I built my own robot, attached a sensor to it and programmed it to follow a black line.  The questions that the judges asked us were much more complicated and intense at the state level of competition. There were many outstanding projects there and a lot of people competing for the various awards that were to be given out the next night.

Ho`omana Hou School

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Ho`omana Hou School

Shaquille Rapanot-McGuire: 3.67
Mikayla Tengan: 3.65
Danielle Mersberg: 3.55

Honorable Mention
Jayvelin Dudoit-Tabilangan:  3.33
Rashel Ka?aikala:  3.3
Kylee Dudoit-English:  3.2