Kaua‘i public-school district Environmental Resource Teacher David Boynton opened the Koke‘e Discovery Center 10 years ago. Hanalei School fifth-grade teacher Stanley Bento brought the first class to the center. Bento returned in April for his 11th class visit. The outdoor
Kaua‘i public-school district Environmental Resource Teacher David Boynton opened the Koke‘e Discovery Center 10 years ago.
Hanalei School fifth-grade teacher Stanley Bento brought the first class to the center. Bento returned in April for his 11th class visit.
The outdoor education center is located in Koke‘e State Park, just off a turn in the road on the Kalalau Lookout side of the main meadow at the park.
“Since our first year, thousands of students have spent a night or two in Koke‘e, hiked its trails, absorbed some of the beauty and wonder of this natural environment,” Boynton said.
“I’m very biased, of course, since it’s been my good fortune to work here for the past 10 years. But I truly believe this has been a highlight of the school year for hundreds of our kids on Kaua‘i.”
During that first class visit, Boynton also met his wife, Sue, who was then the parent facilitator for Hanalei School.
The idea for creating an environmental center on Kaua‘i for school children was presented in 1989 by Boynton to then Kauai district state Department of Education Superintendent Shirley Akita.
“From the beginning, as we shared this vision, Mrs. Akita decided we should just go for it,” Boynton said. “She believed it was important for our children and for Kaua‘i’s environment to have a facility where students could be immersed in the natural environment, rather than just reading about it in books or seeing videos.”
Today, dozens of classes come to stay at discovery center each year, usually for two nights and three days of outdoor-learning adventures. During weekends and school vacations, dozens of other students have used the center, including school clubs, church youth groups, athletic teams, halau, and scouts.
“It took five years from concept to completion of our first building,” said Boynton. “We wrote our own bills to the Legislature, and had great support from (state Rep.) Bertha Kawakami (D-West Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau) and our other Kaua‘i legislators.”
Boynton said he remembered his school supervisor Wally Kawane saying that at the beginning of the project, people all over Kaua‘i owed him (Kawane) favors. By the time KDC was completed, that was turned upside down, and Kawane had IOU’s all over the place.
“It was a community effort for sure,” Boynton said. “The forestry division and state parks (of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources), National Guard, Kauai Electric, all kinds of groups and people helped us out,” he added.
“Aqua Engineers, for example. They donated the labor for putting our water line in all the way from near the state park campground half a mile down the road. And the architect, Maurice Yamasato, his work was all kokua,” Boynton continued.
Although contractor Paul Yokoyama completed the project, high-school students from across Hawai‘i who had excelled in their carpentry and construction classes helped frame the building, through federal funding that Kawane put together. “That was great, having students actually building the facility,” Boynton said. “The learning started here even before we had anything built.”
Science education is now the centerpiece of learning at the center, with standards-based curriculum materials available for all who want them. “We can hit on so many science standards in just those few days,” Boynton said. “I believe this is very important for elementary teachers, many of whom don’t have much of a science background.”
Boynton was enthusiastic about the “really nice quality of writing” that comes out of the Koke‘e field trips. He said it’s very inspiring for the students to be out in the forest.
“Most of the time we walk through life with blinders on,” he said. “It’s great having the opportunity to wake up students’ sensory capabilities. I really enjoy working with students on how to be more expressive, trying to help them improve their writing skills.”
He has enjoyed working with Koke‘e Museum staff, who help put together educational activities for visiting classes. Katie Cassel’s Koke‘e Resource Conservation Project also works under the auspices of the museum, providing students with the opportunity for a service-learning project while on the field trip.
Boynton said that over the past few years students have helped the replanting organization remove several hundred thousand kahili ginger plants from an area surrounded by redwood trees that supports a very nice diversity of native plants, including two endangered plant species.
“It’s great for the students to actually get hands on helping care for the forest, rather than just hearing or talking about it. They do it, and most of them enjoy the work. There’s some ownership here,” he said.
This summer, a new network of computers are being acquired for the center through a grant from the Strong Foundation in Honolulu.
“This will really improve our communication capabilities, and it’ll be wonderful for students to take back pictures of their field trip, of the birds and plants they see. I just hope I can find a few 10-year-olds who can teach me how to do Photoshop and Powerpoint,” he said.
The Strong Foundation grant was provided to the Koke‘e Discovery Center Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation that helps support educational activities and maintenance costs at the center. Akita is president of the association’s board of directors.
A variety of community organizations now help to fund the center. This year it is being supported through grants from the Hawaii Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority, Takenaka Kauai Cultural & Environmental Fund, G.N. Wilcox Foundation, and the Goodale Family Fund (through the Hawai‘i Community Foundation). The grants help defray transportation expenses and support educational activities.
“There’s so much potential here,” said Boynton. “It’s been a blessing to work here, to be able to share something that’s so special in my life with all these teachers and students and their parents.
Boynton said support within the DOE comes from District Superintendent Dan Hamada; Kalaheo School Principal Erik Burkman, who is the administrator for the center; cafeteria manager Earl Okada; and the center’s “secretary-for-life,” Naomi Masaki.
“But most of all it’s the Kaua‘i teachers who I want to thank, with all they have to do, to make that extra effort organizing a three-day field trip,” Boynton said. “When you see these kids out there, see the joy on their faces, read what they have written, you know it’s worth the effort. I just hope our new teachers are willing to give it a try.”
