Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 9, 1 September 2001 — Niʻihau families rise to the occasion [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Niʻihau families rise to the occasion

Donald Cataluna

Vice Chair, Trustee, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau

Editor's note: Keao NeSmith, a Kaua'i native and Hawaiian language instructor at UH Mānoa, was invited by Trustee Cataluna to share his mana 'o in this month 's eolumn. The Ni'ihau community is the last true community of native speakers of Hawaiian in the world. Entire families speak Hawaiian predominantly and many are unahle to speak or write English very well. Over the decades it heeame eommon practice in the puhlie school system to plaee Ni'ihau students in special education simply because they were unahle to express themselves adequately in English. Ni'ihau students were stigmatized to the point where they lost hope and confidence in the public school system and in themselves. The majority dropped out of school before reaching the 12th grade. In the 1992-1993 school year, the Ni'ihau community of Kaua'i acted together in boycotting the Hawai'i state public school system. Parents brought their students to the Kekaha Neighborhood Center and started

teaching them home school style. Ni'ihau families demanded equal access to education in Hawaiian with the opportunity to study English as a second language. The community received support from various organizations in its struggle to organize its ambitious program. Between 1994 and 1999, misunderstandings in the relationship between the Ni'ihau community and one organization, 'Aha Pūnana Leo, Ied to that organization assuming it had full ownership of the Ni'ihau program, contrary to the wishes of most of the Ni'ihau eommunity. Since then, the Ni'ihau community has proceeded forward with the educational program it envisioned in 1993. Currently known as Ni'ihau School of Kekaha (NSK), the program is temporarily situated at the Boys and Girls Club of Waimea where as many as 43 Ni'ihau students study a range of subjects in both their native languages, Hawaiian, and English. For the 2000-200 1 school year, the program was funded through a grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and

administered by the Ni'ihau eommunity. It is a source of pride and hope for a people who have been largely marginalized by the public school system and society. This program's five teachers studied the Hawai'i State Performance and Content Standards of the Department of Education (DOE), and were attentive to them in developing the curriculum of the program. Working relationships with other entities in the eommunity were developed in order to provide a well-rounded education. Community entities include the Boys and Girls Club of Waimea, the Native Hawaiian Community Based Education Learning Center at Kaua'i Community College, the DOE and Waimea High School. In February, NSK students, joined by other students from Ni'ihau, participated in a retreat on Moloka'i for Hawaiian immersion students. They worked together with immersion students to elean the ancient fishponds and shared their knowledge and skills in Hawaiian language and culture. In the fall of 2000, testing in

Hawaiian and English indicated the areas of education that needed emphasis and work began immediately to address those needs. By the end of the school year, math scores were mueh improved and literacy in both Hawaiian and English improved. During additional summer school courses, students eontinued to demonstrate their love for learning. This love is based on their cohesiveness as a community of families who are truly native and truly devoted to education despite the challenges they face in taking on such a sobering responsibility. In July 2001, one of the program's teachers became the first person of the Ni'ihau community to earn a masters degree. She also became a DOE certified teacher at the same time. The self-confidence and pride of the students and teachers has improved by leaps and bounds over the past school year. This, again, proves the wisdom of our kupuna, "'A'ohe hana nui ke alu like" (there is no task too great when all pull together). ■