Education

Discovering the Depths

Monday, November 16th, 2009

By Malia Lee
Twenty-nine Molokai High School students and six of their teachers got a rare opportunity at the beginning of the month. They boarded the Hi`ialakai for an educational cruise around Kaunakakai Harbor. The cruise was sponsored by The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. 

Students were selected to spend one day at sea participating in activities such as plankton tows, bottom sediment studies, water quality tests, and navigation lessons.  This was a great opportunity for them to participate in “real-time” marine science.  They also got to meet Deck Utilityman F. Gaetano Maurizio who was born and raised on Molokai, who has been with the ship since it was acquired from the U.S. Coast Guard in October 2001.

Lego My Robot

Monday, November 16th, 2009

For many, robots conjure up images of the Space Age, the Jetson family cartoon, Japanese inventions and one day, the hope of a robotic servant. They are iconic machines, often featured in film as highly complex machinery or bio-mechanical hybrids. In reality, robots can be constructed by anyone – including students on Molokai.

“A good robot design has to have something to keep it stable…and does the same thing over and over again,” said Kylee Bush, a fifth grader at Kaunakakai Elementary school.

Read to Succeed

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

During the forum, Jershon will visit Capitol Hill, meet a member of Congress, visit the U.S. Supreme Court and get an insider’s look at the Library of Congress – and that’s only the first day.

The rest of the five-day leadership council will be just as action-packed. A group of students from all over the world will get a behind the scenes look at many of the country’s most famous landmarks as well as break into smaller groups to learn how to be more effective leaders.

Making It Happen
Jershon was nominated for the honor by long-time Kaunakakai School teacher Kini Tokailagi. Tokailagi taught Jershon in first grade and said she thought he was a good fit because of he did well academically and always acted as a leader.

“He is very intelligent, very responsible and I could see he was a good leader,” she said.

After his acceptance to the program, the only thing standing between Jershon and the experience of a lifetime was money. The program tuition is nearly $2,500 and a round trip flight to the east coast would tack on another serious price tag.

Jershon decided that he would bring attention to his cause by holding a “Read To Succeed Read-A-Thon.” He pledged to read 2,500 pages during school vacation from Oct. 4-10 and asked that community members help him get to the leadership forum in return.

The Kaalekahis posted signs around town and set up a booth at the Molokai Film Festival on Oct. 10 that was busy throughout the night. Money poured in from close relatives, friends from the island and complete strangers who just happened to be visiting. Several paddlers who were visiting for the Molokai Hoe stopped by at the film festival to offer their support.
 
Jershon held up his end of the bargain. He spent the week reading Harry Potter, taking his only real breaks for football practice each afternoon.

“I think it went really well,” said Jershon’s mother Kristin Kaalekahi. “At times it was kind of challenging. Most of his time was dedicating to reading, but we were all so excited for him.”

The read-a-thon raised enough money to cover the cost of tuition and put a solid dent in the plane trip.

“It was actually way more than we expected we were more than pleased and really overwhelmed from the support,” Kristin Kaalekahi said.

 Jershon said he plans on holding a presentation when he returns from the mainland to share all he has learned with the local businesses and people who helped get him there.

Furlough Days Ahead

Monday, October 5th, 2009

School days lost to budget cuts
By Megan Stephenson

With growing budget deficits and diminishing options, the state has turned to the Department of Education for help. The Molokai High School (MHS) athletic budget already took severe losses, but this time, education budget cuts are hitting even deeper. Last week, a decision was settled between the Department of Education (DOE) and the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) to furlough teachers, cutting 17 days from this school year and the same next year, beginning on Oct. 23, 2009. That means schools across the state will be closed every other Friday.

Representatives from the HSTA and the DOE pointed out that the furlough agreement was the best-case scenario for a terrible year of budget cuts. But many parents disagree.

MHS parent and school Community Council member Louise Manley said she was alarmed. Another MHS parent Tina Rawlins expressed disappointment. Manley said the state is already behind in educational standards, especially Molokai, and she questions how lessons are to be accomplished in four days.

“It’s got to make an impact in a negative way,” she said.

The Sharing of Hula and Haka

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Cultural exchange brings students from New Zealand
By Megan Stephenson

Molokai enjoyed a special cultural treat last Saturday – a student performance of traditional Maori song and dance. About 20 high school students from New Zealand, or Aotearoa, as the indigenous Maoris call it, visited Molokai as part of a cultural exchange with students from Molokai High School’s Hawaiian Immersion program. Sharing their language and culture with fellow students and the community was a highlight of their trip.

With enthusiasm and emotion, the Maori students performed many dances, called haka, and sang in Maori. The dance form has been stereotyped as war dances, according to Toti West, one of the group’s instructors. But West explained haka is more celebratory, and though it is an ancient, traditional form, is used contemporarily before events such as rugby matches.

One dance called tititorea, incorporated small sticks, which were used to develop hand eye coordination by beating the sticks rhythmically on the ground. Tirakau uses longer sticks with complex arm motions, and was traditionally used to develop posture. Another dance, called waiata-a-ringa, which means ‘song with actions,’ uses elaborate hand movements. The students also demonstrated the use of poi, small balls attached to strings which they wield with rhythmic intricacy.

Fruitful Grant Money

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Molokai High receives $5,000 for hydroponic farming

By Dan Murphy

Molokai High School students enrolled in the Natural Resources Academy will be bringing a new fruit to the island this year. Last spring, the school applied for and won a $5,000 grant from Ke Alahele Funds that will allow them to grow strawberries hydroponically.

The 12 students in the program will use the money to build a hydroponic system designed to grow strawberries using water instead of soil. The project will give the group experience in the process of growing and selling crops. They will do market research, as well as build, grow and eventually sell their strawberries.

“We decided on strawberries because no one currently grows them here, so we thought it would be good to have a new product,” Karen Harada said. Harada teaches the languages arts branch of the Natural Resources Academy (NRA).

The NRA program was started at Molokai High School six years ago to help provide a good background for students looking to make a career using natural resources. Along with language arts, the three other branches of the NRA are business/technology, science and agriculture. The students will be working on various aspects of the project in all four classes.

New Kilohana Principal Living His Dream

Friday, August 14th, 2009

By Dan Murphy

When Richard Stevens first came to Hawaii to teach in 1989, he dreamed that he would one day live on Molokai. After 20 long years, Stevens’ dream finally came true when he was named the new principal of Kilohana Elementary School this summer.

Kilohana was also his dream school. Ten years ago, Stevens met former Kilohana principal Stephen Petro at a conference and immediately knew that was the place for him.

“I was just so impressed by all the teachers, by the idea of a school of 100 [students] where everybody knew everybody,” he said. “I always just thought it was a fantasy, I never really thought I’d get a chance to do it.”

The school has gone through a string of principals since Petro. The most recent, Denise Kelly, was hired as the new principal for Molokai High School this summer. When the Kilohana position opened up, Stevens jumped at the opportunity.

No Keiki Left Behind

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Kilohana and Kaunakakai schools meet state assessment standards.

By Catherine Cluett

Two Molokai schools are celebrating this month – they met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a state assessment that measures reading and math proficiency levels. AYP is part of the national No Child Left Behind program (NCLB) signed into law in 2002. Kaunakakai Elementary School and Kilohana Elementary School were the only two schools in the Complex Area of Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai to reach the benchmark. The Complex Area consists of 11 schools, elementary through high school level.

“More and more of our students are meeting proficiency,” said Kaunakakai Principal Janice Espiritu.

The test is administered to over 92,500 Hawaii students in grades 3 through 8 and again in grade 10. The tests are given in April, and preliminary results for the 2008-09 school year were released in mid-July.