Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 5, 1 May 2017 — Students thrive under ʻāina based program [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Students thrive under ʻāina based program

By Meredith Desha Enos When Ayla Lum was applying to the Po ' okela Academy at James B. Castle High School, she had 0.5 credits on her transcript. Luckily, she was exactly the kind of candidate they wanted for Po'okela Academy. "When these kids were selected," said Donna Okita, program coordinator, "they had the least number of credits, and high absenteeism." "I asked myself, 'What do I want to be?"' Lum said. "I didn't like to go school. I went to the heaeh every day. When I interviewed and they said it was 'āina-based, I thought, 'Um, yeah, I'll give it a shot.'" Lum was accepted, and in the 2013-14 school year was part of the first cohort of the Po'okela Academy. "At the time, we were starting

Small Learning Communities (SLC) and students were having a hard time being in a SLC and so I wanted to eome up with an academy that would reach non-traditional learners - those who didn't eome to school. The academy would give them a hands-on project base designed to have them eome to school," said Okita. In addition to work on Castle's nearly seven-acre farm and garden area, as well as regular course work,

students worked twice a week at community-partner sites. Despite what seems like a heavier workload, the students thrived. "They got everything here - reading, math, they could accrue credits," said Piikea Miyamoto,

retired Castle High School teacher and current volunteer who has helped keep Castle's agriculture program running since the late '80s. "We got to give these kids a cultural base so they know who they are, and because it was small,

it was their program. And it was successful." The first year, there were about 60 students, grades 10 through 12. From the 2013-14 school year through the 2015-2016 school year, 45 out of 54 students successfully completed the program. "Our first year 17 students made their own papa board, the second year 40 students made a papa board and pōhaku," Miyamoto pointed out. "That same year we carved three wa'a froman albesia tree. Students, family and friends gathered to carry all three wa'a from Castle High School to Waikalualoko Fishpond and had a celebration to bless the wa'a in the oeean." Unfortunately, the program heeame a victim of its own success. "A lot of our struggles eome from the larger challenge of puhlie school education," said Carlos Kaukahi Severson, who currently heads up the overall agricultural program, whieh is part of the current Natural Resource Academy - Ho'oulu 'Ōpio. Operationally, Mark Stride,

community partner and long-time farmer and educator, volunteers on the farm with the numerous lo'i. Because of larger changes at the high school, the program was opened up to give more students the opportunity to get on the land. In addition, Severson teaches three sections of agriculture and environmental science classes, as well as two biology classes. Larger cohort size means less personal instruction, and the students get on the land only about onee a week. After successfully graduating from Castle in 2016, Lum now works for Stride on his farm. "Now I know who I am," she said. "I'm a farmer." Despite the challenges the new iteration of the Natural Resource Academy - Ho'oulu Opio faces, the program is committed to giving the students more opportunities to get their hands in the soil. "The farm needs more attention, and the kids need it," Okita eommented, looking out over the lo'i. ■

Ayla Lum works the lo'i in Castle's seven acre farm and garden. - Photo: Meredith Desha Enos