OUR SCHOOLS • ST. JOHN VIANNEY
Children help pay for Zambian school breakfasts
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
It's recess at St. John Vianney School in Kailua, and that means the selling frenzy has begun.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Children crowd the doorway to the second-grade classroom to buy Popsicles. Some of them want purple, not green. Others simply thrust their change forward, grab what's handed to them and run back to their friends.
Second-graders at St. John Vianney School sell treats on their Enchanted Lake campus to raise money to help pay for school breakfasts in famine-stricken Zambia. The Kailua pupils raise about $100 weekly.
Across the school's central play courts, children happily snack and, in the process, help feed children in Africa.
Through a new partnership with a school in Zambia, students in every class at St. John Vianney have developed service projects.
The most successful one so far has been the second grade's store, which trades in treats, primarily the frozen kind. The students raise about $100 each week to pay for a breakfast program at St. Joseph's High School in Chivuna, Zambia, to help feed youngsters during a famine.
The Zambian school, run by the sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary, hires village women to bake breakfast rolls. Every child at school gets a roll, and the women are able to earn money to feed their families.
"First of all, they're learning geography," said Principal Jane Quinn. "And there's math skills, business skills and the service aspect."
Quinn, who had spent time at the Catholic missions in Zambia and taught for a short time at St. Joseph's High School, suggested to the faculty that they sponsor the Zambian school. They agreed, and the project has become a small but vital part of life at St. John Vianney School.
Quinn said she has been encouraged that a small, K-8 campus in Hawai'i could make a difference on the other side of the world.
The private Kailua school was founded in 1965 and has retained the family-oriented atmosphere that prevailed since its opening. At the same time it has developed its academic programs.
The school offers students a variety of classes despite its small size. All students take art, computer, physical education and music.
Additionally, teachers, parents and volunteer parishioners teach elective classes during the last period of the day. Throughout the year, students can choose from classes that include geography, calligraphy, newspaper, art, Bible study, student council, chemistry and crime lab. Languages offered include Spanish, French, Hawaiian and Japanese.
"It's fun for the kids, but I think they're really getting something out of it," Quinn said. "They find out what they're interested in."
• What are you most proud of? Quinn is most proud of a few of the school's specialized programs.
The school offers advanced classes in literature and algebra for eighth-graders, allowing most students to get experience in a high school seminar in literature and try their hand at high school algebra.
The school's music program has grown to include chorus, band, strings and liturgical instruments, as well as private and group lessons in strings and percussion.
A reading lab helps struggling students or new students get extra help. It has proven so popular that most student ask to stay even after their tests show they have passed.
• Little-known statistic: The student body is 41 percent Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian.
• Everyone at school knows: Annie Chee, the administrative assistant who has worked at the school for eight years and acts as a campus mother. "One nice thing about St. John's is that it's so family-oriented," Chee said. Of the 30 faculty and staff members, Chee could think of only a few who had not attended St. John's or sent their children or grandchildren there.
• What we need: A new playground. Ever since the school had to tear out old equipment a few years ago to meet safety rules, officials have been saving money from fund-raisers to replace what they once had. While they have enough money to purchase the playground equipment itself, the required ground cover would cost tens of thousands of dollars more.
Also, St. John Vianney is looking to develop an early-learning center for a program for 4-year-olds. Quinn said the program would be language-rich to help develop reading skills and better prepare children for school. The school hopes to open the program next fall.
The eighth-graders are holding a book drive for St. Joseph's School in Zambia and are looking for copies of "Go Tell it on the Mountain" by James Baldwin, "Uncle Tom's Children" by Richard Wright, "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker and "Light in August" by William Faulkner.
• Special events: Country Fair, the springtime fund-raiser with games and food geared toward families. Proceeds go toward goals such as buying computers or building the new playground. Each year the fair raises about $20,000.
If you'd like to see your school profiled, reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
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| At a glance
• Where: 940 Keolu Drive in Kailua • Phone: 261-4651 • Web address: www.pono.net/hcs/oahu/st_john_vianney.html • Principal: Jane Quinn, who is serving in that position for the second time. She served as principal for six years about 12 years ago, but left to work at schools in Rome and New York. This is her first year back at St. John Vianney. • School colors: Green and white • Nickname: Cyclones • Enrollment: 278 students. There are two kindergarten classes and one class each for the first through eighth grades. • History: The school was founded in 1965 on the property of St. John Vianney Church in Kailua. • Computers: The school has a computer lab, which large groups of students can use for classwork, as well as computers in all classrooms. School officials are developing a technology plan to chart the computer improvements and upgrades they'll need in the next few years. |
