Welo Ha‘aheo: Royal flags on display
2017 Native Hawaiian Data Book online
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Native Hawaiian Data Book has been updated for 2017. Initiated in 1994, the book compiles basic demographic data on Native Hawaiians and their needs.
Initially intended as a resource for information on the Native Hawaiian population, the data book today supports OHA’s current strategic plan and commitment to becoming a performance-based organization.
The book is in continual progress, so hard copies are no longer available. It is available online at www.ohadatabook.com.
Research validates culture-based education
The largest comprehensive study of Hawaiian culture-based education demonstrates its positive impact on socio-emotional outcomes that support educational and lifelong achievements.
The study includes data from thousands of students, teachers and parents representing Hawaiʻi public schools, state charter schools and Kamehameha Schools K-12 campuses and was conducted by KS researchers Shawn Kanaʻiapuni and Brandon Ledward, along with Nolan Malone of Auriga WPS Consulting. The research supports KS’s commitment to creating culturally rich learning environments in its Strategic Plan 2020.
“This research builds on the shoulders of so many who have worked diligently in the field of indigenous and culture-based education,” said Kanaʻiaupuni. “At the heart of it is a deep desire to improve the lives of children and families.”
“Our kūpuna were brilliant. Our keiki thrive and prosper when they know this, and when they are able to see and learn about the world and all of its wonders through a Hawaiian worldview. It tells them that each and every one of them is brilliant too.”
The findings were published in the American Educational Research Journal in April as “Mohala i ka wai: Cultural Advantage as a Framework for Indigenous Culture-Based Education and Student Outcomes.” Read it online at www.ksbe.edu/assets/pdfs/Mohala_i_ka_wai_Cultural_Advantage.pdf
Ide appointed Bishop Museum CEO
Melanie Y. Ide has been selected to serve as Bishop Museum’s new president and chief executive officer. She will assume the role on Jan. 8, 2018.
As a principal of international planning and design firm Ralph Applebaum Associates (RAA), Ide comes to role with 27 years experience in museum planning, design and program development, working with clients such as the Clinton Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Capitol Vistor’s Center in Washington, D.C.
From 2005 to 2014, Ide led RAA’s team during a $24.5 million capital campaign to restore and reinterpret Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Hall and Pacific Hall galleries. With RAA, Ide also led phase one of a comprehensive interpretive master plan for the museum.
“I believe that Bishop Museum is an unparalleled resource for Hawaiian and Pacific cultures and environments, with immense untapped potential. It is uniquely positioned to explore and interpret the world through multiple forms of knowledge, rooted in both cultural and scientific practices. In addition to opening up new worlds to us, museums contribute to the making of place, culture, community and shared memory. I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to nurture, develop, and strengthen one of Hawaiʻi’s most treasured resources,” Ide said in a press release.
Mini-grant opportunity available to students
Conservation and youth education program Kupu and the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation are bringing back the Hawai‘i Youth Sustainability mini-grant program for a second year.
Students and educators from grades 6-12 are eligible to apply for grants from $150 to $1,000, with a total of $20,000 available. The funding will support innovative and grassroots environmental initiatives to make communities more sustainable. Projects funded last year included composting and rainwater catchment systems, children’s books and educational displays.
“We are honored to support students and teachers throughout the state in developing their own sustainable solutions for Hawaiʻi,” said Kupu CEO John Leong. “Seeing so many youth engage in ways to improve the environment and their communities is truly inspiring, and we look forward to supporting even more creative Hawaiʻi Youth Sustainability Challenge projects next year.”
The application deadline is Dec. 15. The grant applications are available at the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation website portal at kokua.fluxx.io. For more information about the program, visit www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org/news/detail/2017_18_hawaii_youth_sustainability_challenge.
Lei Court seeking applicants
Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking applicants for the 91th Annual Lei Court Selection on March 3.
Eligible participants must be 61 years or older by the selection date. Contestants will be scored on lei making skills, poise and personality, speaking in both English and Hawaiian and modern hula. The 2018 theme is Lei ʻAlohi Kea – the brilliant white lei – the platinum of kūpuna.
The selection will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Regional Park and is free and open to the public. Applications are available at www.honoluluparks.com or by calling 768-3032.
The court will be presented at the Lei Day celebration on May 1 at Kapiʻolani Park from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Hawai‘i Island bird festival honored in Japan
The Hawaiʻi Festival of Birds participated in the 2017 Japan Bird Festival, where it received an award for educational display.
The annual festival is held in Lake Teganuma in Akibo City, Chiba, and is one of the largest festivals in the country, with more than 40,000 attendees this year.
HIFB was in Japan to promote the 2018 Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds event, scheduled for Sept. 14-17, 2018 in Kona. Representatives also promoted Hawaiʻi Island and the state’s unique bird species, as well as Hawaiian Honeycreeper sculptures by master carver Haruo Uchiyama.
Native Hawaiian educational data updated
Paia Kāne, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs research department, has updated its data on Native Hawaiian public school students’ performance on standardized tests, as well as graduation statistics from the University of Hawaiʻi.
Hoʻonaʻauao, or education, is one of OHA’s strategic priorities, focusing in particular on increasing the percentage of students meeting or exceeding reading and math standards and the number of Hawaiian students who earn post-secondary degrees.
Hawaiʻi State educational assessments in reading and math for the 2016-2017 school year show that:
•34.2 percent of Native Hawaiian students were proficient in reading.
•26.7 percent of Native Hawaiian students were proficient in math.
Another way to measure educational success in the Native Hawaiian community is through the number of post-secondary degree or certificates earned by Native Hawaiian students.
In fiscal year 2016, the University of Hawai‘i system data shows:
•2,412 degrees and certificates were earned by Native Hawaiian students, a 99.5 percent cumulative increase over the FY2009 baseline.
The Hawaiʻi Educational Assessments Indicator Sheet for SY2017and the UH System Degrees Earned Indicator Sheet for FY2017 are available on the OHA website at www.oha.org/education.
Lindsey-Crabbe named Farmer of the Year
Charla Lindsey-Crabbe has been selected the 2016 Farmer of the Year for the Mauna Kea Soil and Water Conservation District.
Lindsey-Crabbe, a WOW Farms “Farming for the Working Class” participant who has received funding from OHA, grows a variety of vegetables on a 5-acre Department of Hawaiian Home Lands agricultural parcel. Rising Sun Puʻukapu Farms provides vegetables to natural food stores and restaurants on the coast, and also provides fresh produce for kūpuna in their Waimea community.
The farm started out growing indigo and grape tomatoes in one High Tunnel in 2015, and now has four – one more for tomatoes and two for lettuce, carrots and radish.
