OUR SCHOOLS • WORD OF LIFE ACADEMY
Academy chooses high-tech avenue to learning

By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer

The students at Word of Life Academy never have to stand in line to get on the Internet or wait their turn to type a report. Many have even stopped using the office telephone to call home. Now they just shoot Mom an e-mail to let her know that cheerleading practice ran late.

Uilani Pickard, 14, a sophomore at the Word Of Life Academy, works on her Apple iBook computer with her science teacher, Christina Mau, right. Students at the academy can access the Internet and do their homework through the school's wireless network. Parents also can check on their children's progress in school through the network. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Unlike other schools, the laptops aren't a supplement to computer labs or library research desks — they're the school's only computers. Students' laptops are linked to a wireless network that gives them the freedom to take their computers from class to class, on lunch break and then home with them, to work on assignments.

Word of Life Academy was founded 10 years ago by Pastors Art and Kuna Sepulveda when they founded their church, Word of Life Christian Center. The school will graduate its first senior class in 2004, making it one of 13 church-based schools in the state to offer high school diplomas.

Word of Life Academy went wireless in the fall of 2001 and principal Royce Tanouye said getting "unplugged" is the best thing it has done.

Tanouye said the goal was to give all students access to their own computer, regardless of economic status.

At first they didn't think they could pull it off.

"We'd talked about putting a computer on every student's desk," Tanouye said. "But back then, the wiring needed for all of the classrooms and desktop systems was too complicated."

Then came the introduction of the first Apple iBook computers with AirPort wireless cards, and Tanouye knew they'd found a solution.

"I looked at it and knew that everything about the system was just right," remembers Tanouye. "It was practical and much easier than having wires all over the place."

Since then, the school has purchased an iBook wireless computer for each of the 134 students in grades 7-12. Four wireless base stations at various points around the school allow students to roam the grounds and still have Internet access.

"Our students can be found all over the place working on classroom assignments. They're not limited to a classroom or 45 minutes a week in a lab," Tanouye said.

The school's computer system also allows parents to check their kids' academic progress. "My grades are better because I know my mom can check them," said Uilani Pickard, 14. "And I know she checks up on me — every day!"

But mobility, convenience and accountability aside, Tanouye said that Word of Life Academy's laptop program "prepares them for life in college and it keeps them on the cutting edge. Our students are comfortable with technology."

• What are you most proud of: The students. Tanouye said that besides having students that are ILH champions in cheerleading and track and field, all of the students "spend a good deal of their spare time doing community service projects that give back to the community."

• Best-kept secret: The level of competitiveness of their ILH teams. "When parents come in for interviews they are amazed at our trophy collection that...represents (only) part of all the championships we've won in various sports," Tanouye said. "They don't always expect that from a small school that's been in the ILH only three years."

• Everybody at our school knows: The founders, Pastors Art and Kuna Sepulveda. Tanouye said that although they are the pastors of the Word of Life Christian Center church, they also give direction, inspiration and vision to the school.

• Our biggest challenge: "Keeping up with the growth of the school," said Tanouye. Every year the student body grows and that means more teachers, desks, computers. "It may be a challenge, but it's a good challenge," said Tanouye.

• What we need: Tanouye said that the school will eventually need a larger campus.

• Projects: The academy is launching three new projects in the fall: a music, media and performing arts program; a technology program; and a bus system.

• Special events: Every year the academy holds a golf tournament to raise money for the financial aid program.