Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 1, 1 January 2000 — Hands on learning [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hands on learning

OHA-funded program helps gifted Hawaiian children

By Jayson Harper ON DEC. 1 1, 200 students, parents and friends assembled in a crowded cafeteria at UH Hilo to celebrate 10 years of Nā Pua No'eau, UH Hilo's Center for Gift-

ed and Talented Hawaiian Children. Nā Pua No'eau services students of Native Hawaiian ancestry from kindergarten through grade 12 statewide. The goal of the center is to raise the educational and career aspirations of Hawaiian children and their families. Programs are designed to promote

access to educational and career enrichment activities, opportunities and experiences. Sitting among laughing children and proud parents on this rainy Hilo evening was Dr. David Sing, executive director and founder of Nā Pua No'eau. Working the room

witn grace and poise, Dr. Sing gleams | with M

pride tonight. Greeting old students and new ones, no name escapes him. Sing's familiarity with all the lives Nā Pua No'eau has touched, lends insight into why Nā Pua No'eau operates like an extended 'ohana. "Belief that students ean do and become anything they want through the Kmun p^npnpnepe

C1 UUU JLVUVVO I and enrichment I activities offered I them is what Nā I Pua No'eau is all I about," said Sing. Nā Pua No'eau I was funded by the I Native Hawaiian I Education Act, I and it now gets I additional funding I from OHA, I receiving ■ $213,000 this year. "Through the leadership of then UH-Hilo chancellor l^nrmnnH\;

1_JUVVU1U and key UHH faculty Marlene Hāpai and Jackie Pualani Johnson along - i with a eroup of dedicated and

committed people, we began conceptualizing Nā Pua | No'eau," said Sing. Nā Pua No'eau first began serving 500 students annually at its headquarters in Hilo. It has grown to six outreach eenters on Maui, O'ahu, Kaua'i, Lāna'i. Moloka'i. and West

Hawai'i, with more than 2,500 students enrolled in programs statewide.

What makes Nā Pua No'eau different from other educational programs is that it focuses on eaeh child's trengths. "By focusing

>n the strengths of eaeh child, we ean bring out talents that the children thought they never had. It's | a gratifying experienee for both stu„1 dent and teacher," said Ka'ōhua Lucas, informaS tion specialist. Kevin f Kamibayashi, an undergraduate at

(above) Kevin Kamibayashi poses proudly with mom, Ema. (below) A Nā Pua No'eau student takes part in summer pahu drum-making program.

See LEARNING on page 17

LEARNING From Paee 12

Hawai'i Community College, attended the Nā Pua No'eau Rocks and Rose Summer Institute in Volcanology. For two years Kevin was immersed during the summers in a hands-on volcanology program run by UH-Hilo geology professors Jim Anderson and Jim Kauahikaua. Kevin recalls the first day of the program. "These guys introduced themselves and then we all got right to work," he said. Kevin was an average student, but had a love of the outdoors. After two years in the program, he knew volcanology was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. "At school you go to a classroom and you're with 30 other students, and you have seven other teachers throughout the day. When I first eame to Nā Pua No'eau the teachers introduced themselves, they didn't give anything to read initially, it was all interesting hands-on work. I soon realized that I was capable of doing the work being taught in school, I just had trouble remembering terms. I was capable, and when I learned hands-on, I

began to understand what was being taught. I began to understand the applications and the logic rather than just memorizing terms from a book," said Kamibayashi. Today, he is in his second year at Hilo Community College. He plans to transfer to UH-Hilo and complete his B.S. in geology. In addition to his studies, Kevin works at the Mauna Kea observatory, where he maps the volcano and measures depermation, the inflation and deflation of volcanos. Nā Pua No'eau's hands-on approach to education a reaction to how the state educational system. "Nā Pua No'eau's design is based on the premise that the school system has failed Hawaiians in education," said Sing. The indicators of low achievement and poor behavior among Hawaiian students are more an indicator of the education system's inability than of the ability and potential of our Hawaiian children. Historically, the education system has pointed to Hawaiians with a negative stereotype and a poor home

environment. My research shows that when education does not incorporate the home and community values as well as culture, Hawaiian students will do poorly academically and behaviorally," said Sing. "The failure of the education system in Hawai'i is not recognizing that learning or one's ability to leam is built around an individual's cultural orientation. How one thinks, behaves, leams, and perceives things is based on the cultural background of an individual. The system has not deveIoped the learning environment that nurtures that background of eaeh child." By incorporating the physieal and classroom environment into innovative programs, Nā Pua No'eau is f)oised to meet the challenges of the 21st century. "Being Hawaiian and living in Hawai'i, you live in a very physical environment where everything you do and leam is very hands on. Onee I started doing the things I was leaming at Nā Pua No'eau in school, it was easier to understand and leam the concepts in the classroom. It definitely showed in my grades," said Kamibayashi. ■