Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 3, 1 March 2001 — Innovative programs benefit leeward Oʻahu kamaliʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Innovative programs benefit leeward Oʻahu kamaliʻi

By Sherlyn Franklin Goo and Kathryn Au The authors are officers of the lnstitute for Native Pacific Education and Culture. This eolumn is coordinated by Dr. David Sing, director of Nā Pua No 'eau. Miehelle Mahuka is the mother of two boys, four and six, and lives on the Nānākuli homestead with her husband. She is the driving force

behind an innovative program, "Nā mākua me nā Keiki o Wai'anae, a play group that meets two to three times a week at Nānākuli Elementary School. Participants are preschool children from the community who eome with their parents or care givers. Two years ago, Miehelle was watching a program | sponsored by the Good Beginnings Allianee that

focused on brain research documenting the critical importance of the formative years and their impact on success later in life. Since then, Miehelle has been unstoppable in her crusade to provide information for Nānākuli families in obtaining the best for

their children, and hopes to eventually earn a degree in early education. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Miehelle and assistant Joy Stevens set up learning centers with such activities as kapa printing, laua'e leaf printing, sand or water play, and the Keiki Book Bag, a book lending project. A monthly theme is developed, usually Hawaiian or loeal oriented. Parents also benefit from learning about car seat safety, CPR and dental

care, and hear special guest speakers. The play mornings are administered by INPEACE with funding from the Hawai'i Community Foundation, James and Abigail Campbell Foundation, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center,

Nānākuli Elementary School, Good Beginnings Alliānee and other supporters. Barbra Kaimuloa Bates, eommunity counselor for the Ka Lama Education Academy, encourages Leeward Coast residents to pursue teaching careers, acknowledging the high turnover of teachers in that district. Ka Lama is administered by INPEACE, and is funded by the Administration for Native Americans and the Atherton Family Foundation.

The Ka Lama Preservice Cohort has successfully guided many to pursue education degrees and, like Bates, return to the eommunity to teach. Bates did her student teacher with Clinton Hirai, her ovvn elementary teacher when she attended Nānāikapono Elementary School. 1NPEACE is proud of the graduates of the cohort. Those in Kalama

Cohort I are Marga-rita Lani Alo-Chu and Larrilynn Holu Tama-shiro, teachers at Mākaha Elementary School, and Corrina Luna, ateacher at Wai'anae elementary. Kalama Cohort II graduates are Germaine |

Nae'ole who teaches at Nānākuli Intermediate, and Waianuhea Victorino, now at Mā'ili Elementary. Altogether, 1 8 cohort graduates teach at Leeward schools. For information on the Nā Mākua a me nā Keiki playgroup, eall Miehelle Mahuka at 668-2932. For information on Ka Lama Education Academy and Preservice Cohort, eall Barbra Kaimuloa Bates at 696-8312. ■

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Keiki from Pūnana Leo o Wai'anae enjoy story time at the Hawai'i State Library. Photo courtesy: INPEACE

Katia Watson reads with Mom and Dad at Nōnākuli Elementary. Photo courtesy: INPEAOE