Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 9, 1 September 1995 — Hoʻolaulima kū nā Kūpuna (Let us work in the manner of our ancestors) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hoʻolaulima kū nā Kūpuna (Let us work in the manner of our ancestors)

by Jeff Clark , "Science sucks. Math is junk." Maybe in school, but not in Lualualei. This summer at BoKe' Farms, located atop Pāhe'ehe'e Ridge in Wai'anae, Hawaiian students leamed about science and math and earned school credit while farming apple snails and spending time outdoors. About 60 Hawaiian students took part in the program, dubbed Ho'olaulima kū nā Kūpuna (Let us work in the manner of our ancestors). These were Nānākuli High and Intermediate pupils with deficiencies in science and math, and they received credit that allowed them to either graduate or pass to the next grade level. BoKe' Farms owner Francis Hun raises apple snails, whieh gourmet chefs serve as the pricy French delicacy, escargot. He also grows taro, ung ehoi, watercress, and fems via hydroponics. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in water, by use of a mineral solution that provides all the nutrients plants normally get from soil. The BoKe' setup is a closed system in whieh water full of snail waste is used to enrich the water in whieh the plants grow. The students learned about chemistry, biology, math, writing, scientific reasoning, computer skills, Hawaiian land use, entrepreneurship. ... They did this by keeping on top of growth rates ānd water flow (hydraulics), by weighing and counting snail eggs, by monitoring the difference in the oxygen level in case of algae death. ... "Rather than [make them] leam from a book, we tell 'em, 'Well,

you need to know,"' Hun says. The program was organized by Hun along with Dr. Clyde Tamaru, an aquaculture specialist from the University of Hawai'i Sea G r a n t Extension Service, and A1 Nagasako, principal at N ā n ā k u 1 i High and Intermediate.

Four teachers from Nānākuli High served intemships during the project, and the University of Hawai'i gave them credit for doing so. Hun recalls one of the teachers reporting that the students produced far more at BoKe' Farms than what they'd ever produced in school. Hun was "alarmed" at how negative the kids were at the program's start. Engaging them was "just like talking to an empty box," he remembers. "But as the kids felt comfortable with us and saw our commitment, they started to change. "By the end of four weeks, we saw the sparkle in some of the kids' eyes. "And by the fifth and sixth, they blew all of us away. "We didn't know they picked up so mueh information. They really shocked us and made all of our efforts wonhwhile."

Students from Nānākuli High School, left and middle, get invaluable hands-on experience at BoKe' Farms during a summer education program. Bottom: BoKe' Farms owner Francis Hun explains the finer points of aquaculture. Photos courtesy Clyde Tamaru, University of Hawai'i Sea Grant Extension Service