Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 9, 1 September 2017 — Nourishing BODIES, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Nourishing BODIES,

S 7reena, ^&npiro i x days into the new school year, Kualapu'u Puhlie Conversion Charter School students gleefully chased Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees across a grassy field. Punctuated by peals of laughter and capped off with hugs and high fives, the exercise was an energetic mahalo to the Trustees for approving a second two-year grant to support the Moloka'i elementary school's Pū'olo project. The obesity-prevention program has already boosted the nutrition factor of school meals and turned two homegrown luneh events into family affairs. Kualapu'u's second OHA grant, awarded at the end of June, provides funding for an additional physical education teacher. That means P.E. every day, something many public schools have eliminated in favor of more instruction time in the classroom. »+

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Students of Kualapu'u enjoying their £2 school luneh. - Photo: Kaipo Kī'aha

Instead of choosing between core subjects and enrichment, Kualapu'u extended its school day by an hour to give students time

for both. As Principal Lydia Trinidad led a school tour, it was immediately clear the school's emphasis on heahh and wellness doesn't detract from its commitment to academics. In fact, to bolster the school's kaiapuni (Hawaiian language immersion) program, Kualapu'u has begun publishing its own books for developing readers in 'ōlelo Hawai'i. On the scienee, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) side, sixthgraders in the school's two-year-old robotics program placed second in the world at an international eompetition in April. With other initiatives also underway, "It's almost like we get to reinvent ourselves," Trinidad said as she highlighted the conversion charter school's successes.

KAIAPUNI CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Kualapu'u's programs often reach out into the greater Moloka'i community but its 'ōlelo Hawai'i curriculum project will benefit Hawaiian language learners across the state. "We are creating middle grade chapter books andlower grade workbooks in Hawaiian translated into English," Trinidad said. "These are contemporary loeal stories whieh are high interest for the students." Excellent Hawaiian language books have been nrovided to

Kaiapuni schools for many years, mainly by the 'Aha Pūnana Leo and UH Hilo's Hale Kuamo'o. However, teachers at Kualapu'u school began to notice a shortage of resources for developing readers who have progressed beyond picture books. Kaiapuni students at the second through fourth grades wanted to have the same kinds of books that their English-reading peers were carrying aroundnamely chapter books with more text and fewer illustrations. "We saw the children's interest in the English chapter book format as they moved past the emergent reading level. But schools had little to no access to similar kinds of reading material in Hawaiian," said Kualapu'u's Curriculum Coordinator Kamalu Poepoe. "We wanted to start providing that guided step reading experience for our Hawaiian language leamers with interesting and fun stories that they could relate to." Poepoe is spearheading the project to develop new grade-appropriate, Common

Core-aligned Hawaiian language reading materials that will be shared with kaiapuni programs across the state. A highly competi-

tive two-year grant from the Administration for Native Americans will fund the production of four Hawaiian-medium chapter books for grades two through four and eight eonsumable workbooks for kindergarteners and first-graders learning to read and write in 'ōlelo Hawai'i. All 12 will also be published in English for non-kaiapuni students. Of Kualapu'u's nearly 400 students, more than 20 percent are in the immersion program. "All of these books are new on the horizon," Poepoe continued. "Teachers in all of the state

Hawaiian language immersion elementary schools have enthusiastically expressed an interest in having these materials to support

their instruction. Their challenges have mirrored those at Kualapu'u. I hope others join in to create more books of this genre to strengthen these 'middle ladder rungs' that our keiki need in order to move forward successfully." The ANA grant follows a smaller one from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority that allowed Kualapu'u to self-publish

its first readers published in both 'ōlelo Hawai'i and English by 'Ōpu'ulani Alhino: Ka Wena, a second-grade chapter book, and Ka Moe'uhane, a mystery for third- and fourth-graders. Kualapu'u plans to give a set of the books to eaeh kaiapuni school in the state, including the two other sister schools operated by Ho'okāko'o Corporation: Kamaile Academy on O'ahu and Waimea Middle School on Hawai'i Island. Because the books are selfpublished through CreateSpace on Amazon,

they're also available for purchase by the puhlie. "It's printed on demand," explained Trinidad. The books will be published as the Kukuiehu series, named for Opu'ulani Albino's grandmother, to keep them attached to Kualapu'u School. KUALAPU'U C0METS S0AR Rural Moloka'i may seemlike an unlikely plaee to find robotics champs but in reality every school on the island participates, with six elementary and middle schools coming

together as the Moloka'i League. "We all get to play together because we're so tiny," said Jeannine Rossa, a grant writer for Kualapu'u whose daughter was part of Kualapu'u's first robotics team. "We don't have a lot to offer kids here. We just don't have the bodies - all of us do five different things - but robotics is something we're all committed to." Edwin Mendija, who provides Kualapu'u's IT support, exempli-

fies that commitment. In late 2014, Mendija began volunteering his time to students willing to give up their recesses to build and programrobots. "I do it at the high school as well, so I thought I'd give the kids here some exposure, too," he said. "It's not just robotics. I want them to be exposed to the STEM field and see it elsewhere, too." In its first full year, when Rossa's daughter was on the team, Kualapu'u made it to the state championships. "To go to state's is a big deal because unlike the O'ahu kids, we can't drive there," Rossa pointed out. In their second year, the Kualapu'u Comets eame within a few points of winning the state championship, whieh qualified them to go to the 2017 VEX IQ World Championships in Kentucky. "I think our jaws just dropped," said Rossa. "It's was like, 'Really, us? Moloka'i?'" Getting to Kentucky required raising $10,000 but Mendija was able to take two teams to the international competition: John Quintua and Naiwa Pescaia formed Team 1037B, while Jaryn Kaholoaa and Aron Corpuz competed as Team 1037A. In the finals, Quintua and Pescaia and two students from Canada teamed up against a pair of teams fromChina -ultimately seizing the No. 2 spot in a field of 272 teams from 30 eountries. Kaholoaa and Corpuz also had a good showing, placing in the top 15 percent. Mendija's goals for this school year include getting his high school teamto their first international competition and, for Kualapu'u to "Win the state championship. Win the world championship." ■

"We wanted to start providing that guided step reading experience for our Hawaiian language learners with interesting and fun stories that they could relate to."

Kualapu'u Curriculum Coordinator Kamalu Poepoe shares chapter books the school has self-published for Hawaiian language immersion students in grades 2-4. The books will be distributed to kaiapuni programs across the state and are also available for purchase on Amazon.