Education

Taking a Stand Against Bullying

Monday, May 12th, 2014

Taking a Stand Against Bullying

When people think about bullying, it usually involves playground spaces and high school hallways. But the conversation shouldn’t stop there, say advocates of Molokai’s Families Against Bullying (FAB).

It’s a problem that affects communities, families and schools nationwide. Tackling the issue takes a commitment from parents, teachers and children themselves. That was the message delivered last Friday when FAB members and supporters took to the streets to generate a conversation on bullying in Molokai schools.

The statistics are staggering: 28 percent of U.S. school children in grades six through 12 say they’ve been a target of bullies at one time or another and 70.6 percent of young people say they have witnessed some type of bullying at school, according to StopBullying.gov.…

Ask-A-Lawyer Free Clinic

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

Hawaii State Bar Association News Release

As a community service project in conjunction with Law Week in Hawaii, attorneys from the Senior Counsel Division of the Hawaii State Bar Association will be holding a free legal clinic to provide legal information to the people of Molokai.

Come to Kaunakakai Elementary School Cafeteria on Saturday, May 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is open to the Molokai community, with no income screening or eligibility qualifications.

Receive free legal information  on a variety of topics including Estate Planning/Probate, criminal law, consumer credit/collections, no-fault insurance law, environmental or historic preservation law, Hawaiian Homes, state water code, employment or family law, and landlord-tenant.…

Dancing With Purpose

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

Dancing With Purpose

What do ballroom dancing and sexual abuse prevention have in common? If your answer is “nothing,” you’ve never been to Kealoha Hooper’s ballroom classes on Molokai. While some might view ballroom dancing as old-fashioned or out-dated, Hooper is using ballroom to teach lessons of respect and start conversations about a problem plaguing many of today’s communities: violence and sexual abuse of children.

Ballroom dance classes sponsored through Molokai’s Consuelo Foundation, an organization working to prevent child neglect, violence and abuse, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) are teaching Molokai students more than how to rumba, fox trot and tango. The classes are enriching lives by improving self-confidence, communication, acceptance of others and regard for personal boundaries, said Hooper, a ballroom dance instructor who danced professionally with at Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Portland Oregon.…

Aka`ula Students Professors for a Day

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

Aka`ula Students Professors for a Day

Community Contributed

By Madison Trenner, Grade 5, and Qwynci Pawn, Grade 7

Five Aka`ula students traveled to the University of Hawaii West Oahu campus to make a presentation on Wednesday, April 23.  Students prepared PowerPoints to share their environmental research with college students who are planning to become teachers.  Miss Kim, the math teacher at the college, wanted her students to see that math can be found in other subjects, like science.

Aka`ula students Qwynci Pawn and Dillon DeCoite explained the issue investigation process and then Malu Duquette and Madison Trenner shared a specific investigation about mosquitoes that was researched earlier this year. …

Yamamoto Finalist in School Leadership Award

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Island Insurance Foundation News Release

Principal Joe Yamamoto of Maunaloa Elementary on Molokai was named as one of the 13 finalists in the 2014 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Awards, which recognizes outstanding Hawaii public school principals for their efforts to provide high-quality learning opportunities for their students.  Each finalist received a $1,000 personal cash award and a Certificate of Recognition at a presentation ceremony held on March 29.

The finalists will by vying for the $25,000 (a $10,000 personal cash award and $15,000 towards a school project of his or her choice) grand prize award at the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation dinner on May 1 in Honolulu. …

Hawaiian Immersion Summer Schools

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Manuwai Peters

With interest and demand growing for Hawaiian language programs for kids entering middle school, a second Kula Kaiapuni Kauwela site will open this summer at Molokai Middle School. Kula Kaiapuni Kauwela at Molokai Middle is for students who will complete grade six, seven or eight this school year.  The Hawaiian language based curricula is designed to engage and excite students in the many aspects of the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage of the Hokule`a and Hikianalia wa`a.

Through direct instruction and inquiry, students will compare stories and traditions of the Polynesian (Maori and Tahitian) migration with primary accounts of Hawaiian migrations, genealogies, exploration, and discovery. …

Softball Wins MIL Championship

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Softball Wins MIL Championship

The Lady Farmers’ softball team is headed to states after defeating the Lanai Pinelasses last weekend in an exciting, close win at Duke Maliu Regional Park.

Homes runs and a killer comeback led Molokai to 12-11 victory against Lanai last Saturday. The win claimed the Farmers the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Division II Championship crown. The team is already thinking ahead to the State Tournament on Oahu May 6-9.

Molokai High School (MHS) freshman centerfielder and pitcher Brooke Keliihoomalu said “it’s indescribable” to be going to state her first year on the team. She said she and her teammates will give it their all at the State Tournament.…

Learning Journey: Hokule`a Crew Inspires Students

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

The first time Molokai’s Captain Melvin “Mel” Paoa touched the Hokule`a — a replica of the traditional Hawaiian double-hulled seafaring canoe — in 1977, he said he held on tight and never let go—no matter the odds.

As a diabetic, Paoa was told to discontinue sailing on Hokule`a for health reasons, but he didn’t take no for an answer. In 1985, he set sail on his longest voyage yet for 12,000 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti to French Polynesia and finally the Cook Islands. He told Molokai Middle School (MMS) students, education leaders and community members at an education event last Friday to never give up.…

Honoring Hawaii’s First Homestead

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Honoring Hawaii’s First Homestead

Beginning in 1921, a selected group of hardy Hawaiian families began building a life in Kalama`ula. They cleared kiawe, constructed homes and infrastructure, planted gardens and raised livestock. It was difficult work, but because of their success, more than 6,000 Hawaiian Homesteaders now live around the state, according to OHA Chairperson Colette Machado.

“They had to make do and… they overcame that and succeeded,” said Machado. “If it wasn’t for the Kalama`ula demonstration, [Native Hawaiians] wouldn’t be where we are today.”

Last week, the descendants of Hawaii’s first 42 homesteaders in Kalama`ula gathered to celebrate 90 years since the establishment of the Kalaniana`ole Settlement, as it was known.…

Sharing the Love of Music

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

Sharing the Love of Music

Inside the white brick walls of Kaunakakai Elementary School room A-103, the reverberation of melodies fill the air after school Mondays and Wednesdays as keiki, parents and community members tackle playing some of the toughest string instruments to learn.

The students are a part of the Molokai Community Band and the 21st Century Instrumental Music program, an after-school music program for individuals of all ages to receive group music lessons and learn a string or woodwind instrument. The focus is learning how to read music, play an instrument and interact with others in a group environment, said Bob Underwood, a first grade teacher at Kaunakakai Elementary and volunteer string instrument teacher.…