Immersion schools finally come of age

[Liko Puha]

Monday, June 9, 2003



MICHELLE MUELLER / MMUELLER at STARBULLETIN.COM
Ke Kula O Samuel M. Kamakau student Kukea Naber worked on a feather lei
that he wore on Saturday for graduation ceremonies for the Hawaiian
immersion charter school in Kailua.

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Immersion schools
finally come of age

105 students so far have gained
diplomas in Hawaiian programs
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By Michelle Mueller
mmueller at starbulletin.com

Standing as tall as ancient koa trees, Emilia Kaawa and Kukea Naber chant
their genealogies. Their voices carry across the lawn to the rest of the
school by the soft Kailua tradewinds to the ears of kindergartners.

One day soon, these keiki will be on that stage, too, practicing for
graduation.

But on Saturday all attention was on the first two graduates of Ke Kula o
Samuel M. Kamakau, a Hawaiian immersion charter school opened in 2000.

Kaawa and Naber joined the other 31 graduates from six other immersion
schools around the state as the next wave of students educated completely
in Hawaiian.

Since 1999 the six immersion schools have produced 105 graduates.

The history of Hawaiian immersion schools has not always been smooth. From
the first Punanaleo preschool in 1985 in Hilo, students have had to help
lobby for funds from the state, learn from books with the Hawaiian
translation glued over the English and have been the guinea pigs for many
curriculum ideas.

>From that first preschool, 22 other preschool, elementary and high schools
have sprung up, educating almost 1,700 students on five islands.

And for the first time, three students raised in the Niihau dialect of
Hawaiian will graduate this week from Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha on Kauai,
using that same dialect for all their studies.

At noon Saturday, Kaawa and Naber graduated with a wealth of cultural and
academic knowledge and the ability to think in two worlds -- Hawaiian and
English.

"I think we are special," Kaawa said. "I couldn't imagine my life without
an immersion school."

She started her education in Hawaiian at preschool, and Naber started
kindergarten at an immersion school in Puohala, Kaneohe.

"We learn the exact same things as people in public schools but in a
different language," Kaawa said.

The staff of 12 teachers admit they take a little different approach to
the traditional subjects.

"We do project-based learning," said "poo kumu" Principal Makalapua Kaawa,
who is also Emilia's mother. "We want the knowledge they learn to be
useful."

The school was excited to graduate their first students, and acknowledge
the process it took to get to this point.

"We have reached a level, a milestone, where we can see the fruits of our
labor, and we will keep finding resources to provide the best we can,"
said Makalapua Kaawa.

Luahiwa Namahoe, communications coordinator for the Aha Punanaleo, which
provides funding for the immersion schools, agrees that the program is all
grown up.

She said, "Teachers are thinking outside the box to create solutions to
the programs' problems. We are rolling up our sleeves, doing the work,
creating curriculum and moving ahead."

Some critics point to low competency test scores because English is not
taught until fifth grade.

Emilia Kaawa said she used to feel embarrassed writing and reading in
English, but "she got over it" and even got better.

She switched to Kailua High School in her junior year because she wanted
to see if she could keep up in an English school.

"I thought I would do really bad, but I got better grades, even in
English, than my friends that went to regular schools all their life," she
said.

She was happy to return to her "family" at Kamakau, satisfied she could
handle an English school, she said.

Naber shakes his head, remembering that at kindergarten he wanted to quit
immersion. After he caught on to the language, he wanted to stay and
caught the bus every day for two years from Kahaluu to Palolo to go to
Kula Kaiapuni o Anuenue.

"I love it -- I enjoy speaking the language," he said, shrugging his
shoulders. "Yeah, I just love it."

Naber looks forward to attending Kapiolani Community College to study
culinary arts. He wants to be a pastry chef, perhaps one day opening his
own restaurant all in Hawaiian or returning to Kamakau to teach cooking
classes.

Emilia Kaawa plans to use her passion for math to pursue a business degree
and will attend Windward Community College in the fall.