Students learned about this place in pilot program over spring break

WAIPOULI — The island of Kaua‘i became both classroom and laboratory for several dozen sixth-grade students who participated in a pilot program for a week during what for most of them was their spring break.

They were part of a pilot program hosted by leaders of the Enrichment Department of Kamehameha Schools.

Donna A‘ana Nakahara of Kamehameha Schools Kaua‘i said this initial, place-based program was free to the inaugural class that spent a week lodged at the Kauai Coconut Beach Resort while learning about the various places on the island through a hands-on approach.

Labeled Ho‘olauna Kaua‘i, Nakahara said the program focuses on getting students closer to the various locations around the island, leading the students to gain a better understanding of the land.

The 40 students were selected from schools around the island, and under the supervision of two groups of adults and young adults, spent their daylight hours on field trips to various island locations, while at night the students spent time finalizing their crafts and projects initiated during the field trips.

“This is Hanalei soil,” Maile Andrade, one of the adult leaders, pointed out as she discovered the remnants of the day’s toil at Waipa, where the group was involved in working the lo‘i (taro or kalo terraces and fields), and making poi.

The smell of fresh-made poi wafted into the Paddle Room of the hotel here as Andrade lifted the lid of one of the coolers that contained neatly packed bags of poi created by students during their day tour at the Hanalei facility.

Makana Garma, developer of the curriculum sponsored by the Extension Education Division of Kamehameha Schools, said the program focused on providing for non-Kamehameha School Native Hawaiian students, and was launched last year in Kona on the Big Island.

Based on the success of that program, this year it was expanded to Moloka‘i and Kaua‘i.

“The program focuses on place,” Garma said, “and the island of Kaua‘i becomes the classroom and laboratory.”

Born in Pakala and a graduate of Waimea High School, Garma was pleased to be able to bring this back to his home island, explaining that on Monday, the students spent the day at Salt Pond Beach Park learning about the salt-making process.

Additionally, they invited Ni‘ihau kupuna to the site, where the students became involved in making Ni‘ihau-shell pendants.

Students, freshly showered from their day in the rain at Waipa, filed into the Paddle Room, where the girls lined up on cue to practice their hula that was part of the closing-night celebration Friday.

This was followed by the boys trooping in and settling into another portion of the room, extracting their stamps for work on pellon (tapapa substitute) that became part of their hula costumes.

The rhythmic thump of the gourd was punctuated by the rattle of uli uli created by the students as they rehearsed their hula, the symphony rudely interrupted by the buzz of grinders working on the resort’s ongoing renovations.

Garma explained that on Tuesday, the group spent the day at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, learning about the royal connection to NTBG. Queen Emma had a beach house on that property.

On Wednesday, the students were immersed into the Koke‘e and Pa Ula Ula, or Russian Fort, locations.

Thursday’s itinerary had the students out at Waipa, and on Friday, the students toured heiau in the Wailua area before greeting their parents at the closing celebration.

Andrade explained that at each visited site, students presented ho‘okupu (gifts) before starting their work and study, and when the students left Friday night, they had a bounty of items to take with them: Ni‘ihau-shell pendants, bags of poi, hula implements they created, and other items they worked on during their week’s stay.

Nakahara pointed out that the boarding program also exposes the students to other aspects of life on Kaua‘i, noting that some of the students have never experienced dining in a fine-dining atmosphere. Under supervision from their leaders, they received training in proper fine-dining etiquette.

The spring-break program was a trial run, Nakahara said. The first program will inaugurate this summer at a cost of $125 per student, with scholarship aid available for those unable to afford the fee.

Sports Editor Dennis Fujimoto may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.