OUR SCHOOLS • IROQUOIS POINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Yellow brick road on campus inspires learning

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

Students at Iroquois Point Elementary School are going over the rainbow this year.

Principal Robert Elliott of Iroquois Point Elementary School chats with students while they eat their lunch. Elliott is known to frequently visit classrooms, the cafeteria and every other place on campus. The school has all 50 state flags hanging from the cafeteria ceiling. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

And when they're on it, they can't walk or shuffle or stand; they have to skip.

The yellow brick road winds across campus, representing an attitude of making learning fun that has permeated the school. Iroquois Point adopted "Going Over the Rainbow" as its theme this year and uses the "The Wizard of Oz" as inspiration for the campus.

Principal Robert Elliott said the main characters in the story can be used to explain the qualities of the state's General Learner Outcomes. The Tin Man, who wants a heart, represents caring. The Scarecrow, who wants a brain, represents literacy. The cowardly Lion represents the courage to try things, and Dorothy is the problem-solver.

Students rewrote their own version of "The Wizard of Oz" and put on several performances for parents. The production originated with special-education students, who invited the rest of the campus to contribute. More than 150 students were cast in the play.

Teacher Kari Terjeson said the students wrote the play themselves and worked on skills like storyline and sequencing. "The script came from the students," she said. "In the end they have a great final product."

But Terjeson's favorite moment came when a dyslexic student told her, "You know, I think we're the best writers in the whole school."

With a small student population and a large piece of property, the Iroquois Point school houses the Head Start program for children up to age 5, an alternative education program for Leeward District students, an Armed Services YMCA program for children and a Department of Education testing office. It also dedicates classroom space to a Student Activities Center where students can learn robotics.

About 53 percent of the students get lunch for free or at a reduced price, which qualifies the school for federal Title I money for high-poverty schools.

The campus also generally outperforms state averages on standardized tests. It has partnerships with the Navy's A-Float Training at Ford Island and the Army's 1st Battalion 2nd Air Defense Artillery Tropic Lightning. Both groups have helped the school improve its classrooms and have pitched in on the yellow brick road project.

• Most proud of: "I'm most proud of my kids," Elliott said. "And in the same breath, their teachers. The lowest on the experience ladder has been teaching seven years. They're veterans. They're caring. They work really hard."

• Best-kept secret: The parents. Elliott said Iroquois Point is blessed with active and involved families. "Navy moms are a secret weapon," he said. "I'm not afraid of North Korea because I've got Navy moms." Parents visit their kids at lunchtime, volunteer to help teachers and built sets and props for the recent "Wizard of Oz" production. They also sewed costumes and turned out for performances in force, often asking for extra tickets to bring along neighbors. Three families visit the campus on weekends to help with landscaping the school's 15 acres.

• Everybody knows: Principal Robert Elliott and Vice Principal Heidi Armstrong, who frequently visit classrooms, the cafeteria and everyplace else on campus.

In a scene repeated across the campus daily, Elliott waves to a class of kindergartners and booms, "Alooo-ha!"

They straighten up, smile and shout back, "Alooo-ha!"

"I'll make kama'aina out of them yet," Elliott said. With a 96 percent military population at the school, many of the students at Iroquois Point are new to Hawai'i. The other 4 percent have parents who work for the federal prison or attend the campus on geographic exceptions.

• What we need: "We just need kids," Elliott said. With decreasing use of military property around the school and fewer people moving into base housing in the area, the school's enrollment has dropped over the past seven years from 1,260 to 460 today. The school also dreams of adding a band to its music program.

• Special events: Iroquois Point invites its families onto campus a few times each year for Friday-night movie showings outdoors. It uses a large screen just like the one at Sunset on the Beach.

"The city and county stole our idea," Elliott said. This school year they've screened the first Harry Potter movie and, of course, the "Wizard of Oz."

The school also holds a curriculum fair, where students show off their work and parents can learn about what the school is teaching. Iroquois Point will hold a talent show at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The school will hold its Ali'i Run for Fun at 8 a.m. March 8. Proceeds from the 5K run/walk benefit the school's improvement programs. The cost for entry is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 years old and younger. Call the school at 499-6504 or 499-6500, ext. 230, for information.