School: Waiʻanae High School and Nānākuli High School
Grade Level: Grades 11-12
Teacher: Shannon Bucasas, Megan Garcia, Danyel Panui, Camille Hampton, Lei Aken
Driving Question: How can I contribute to the story of my place?
Goal: To provide authentic place-based learning experiences within the Waiʻanae moku that connect students through historical, cultural and environmental lenses.
Objective: Students will know and understand their connection and kuleana to place and community.
What did the students DO?
Pua Kaiāulu is a five week internship program for incoming 11th and 12th grade public school students on the Waiʻanae Coast. Students will choose a pathway, or focus, to guide their field work and experiences as well as be exposed to research, speakers and different career opportunities related to that focus. For this summer, students will choose to look at fire mitigation, water, land use and policy or ancestral practices. Within each pathway, students will be learning mo’olelo, politics and history, cultural significance and environmental science and how it ties into their focus, but ultimately how all of the topics are intertwined with each other.
Weekly Overview
Each week, students will join as a whole group at different wahi pana to hear the stories of place in what is being called “Mo’olelo Monday”. The location and story will change weekly and be connected to one of the pathways (fire, water, land use and policy, ancestral practices). Students will use that story to guide the work they do in the field that week. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, each group will be on their own as they explore different opportunities for field work and huakai. On Fridays, students will join back together to spend a day of service learning at Ka’ala Farm, eating together, the sharing of experiences, and deep reflection on the process and learning itself. At the end of the five week program, students will share their stories, what they now know and understand about their place, and their responsibility moving forward.
