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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 5, 2003

Father hammers away for free

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Scott Konnath arrived at Hickam Elementary School three years ago as a "Mr. Mom," the stay-at-home father of two and a volunteer willing to rake up leaves on campus. He will depart as the champion who transformed a termite-ridden, damaged quonset hut into a fine-arts center with a theater, auditorium and rainy-day gym for the students.

Volunteer Scott Konnath and his 7-year-old son, A.J., close one of the newly installed windows of a quonset hut at Hickam Elementary School, where A.J. is enrolled. Scott and a group volunteers are renovating the hut.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Principal George Okino said Konnath's work easily saved the school hundreds of thousands of dollars and will provide a venue for the children's education never before available at the school.

"This will really make a difference for the kids," Okino said. "We will have a music room, a gifted-and-talented class, a large space for performances and assemblies and room for the PE class when it rains."

Konnath had help with the project, but he has been the driving force behind it.

Over the past 10 months, Konnath invested hundreds of hours, sometimes working until midnight doing everything from woodworking — his specialty — to grunt work like breaking up the cement flooring with a jackhammer and trucking it to the dump.

Konnath, 39, was presented Hickam's Air Force Volunteer Excellence Award for 2003 at a ceremony last week for his work at the school, participation in parent activities and his work with the local Boy Scout troop.

In nominating Konnath for the award, Okino said his accomplishments and hours of service are "unparalleled in the history of this school."

The school system has hundreds of volunteers who help out with everything from reading to repairs. But even among people who give their time, Konnath stands out.

"A usual volunteer would usually work one Saturday, painting a building for, like, three or four hours," said Ann-Maile Yamasaki, executive director of Hawai'i 3Rs, a nonprofit volunteer program established in 2001 to find money to support the repair and maintenance of Hawai'i's public schools. "Nothing compared to the hundreds of hours that Scott has put in. It is kind of amazing how much he has been able to do."

The once-damaged quonset hut at Hickam Elementary is being transformed into a fine-arts center for pupils, thanks to a group of volunteers led by Scott Konnath.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

If every school had a volunteer like him, the state's $450 million backlog of repairs would quickly be reduced, Yamasaki said.

"Even if we could find one person at each school, even one in each complex, that would be wonderful," she said. "If community members show ownership for the school, there is no end to what they can accomplish."

Konnath's eldest son, A.J., is in second grade at Hickam. Konnath said he had no intention of starting a long-term volunteer project on campus, but when asked to help last July, he couldn't say no.

"I was up there raking leaves and they approached me and said, 'Instead of raking leaves do you want to build something?' " Konnath said.

Konnath had some practical experience in larger projects, having helped build a Habitat for Humanity house in Hawai'i and similar projects in Alabama.

"The challenge for me was being the project manager and coordinating other people," he said. "I'm not cut out for that. I'd rather have a hammer in my hand, but nobody else would do it."

Starting with a $4,000 grant from a program called Partnership for Schools, Konnath started drawing up designs, selecting materials and estimating costs. The school's Parent Teacher Organization kicked in more money and the demolition work began.

As the work became more consuming, Konnath asked neighbors to help baby-sit his younger son, Austin.

Konnath also performed other work, including helping the custodial and cafeteria staff, and installing a watering system for the plants around the cafeteria at his own expense. But his major effort was renovating the quonset hut.

Scott Konnath has put in hundreds of hours of volunteer work at Hickam Elementary, where his eldest son is enrolled. Among the projects he has worked on is the renovation of a termite-ridden quonset hut on campus.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The 50-year-old structure is about 40 feet by 100 feet and had been used primarily for storage. The wood framing inside was termite-eaten and the concrete foundation was severely damaged by tree roots.

As many as 75 parents, teachers, students and airmen helped renovate the quonset hut, but Konnath planned and supervised the project and did most of the work along with two friends who are also school fathers, Walt Bonner and Andy Taliercio, according to vice principal Faye Furukawa. Taliercio is now serving in Kuwait.

The project was financed with $65,000 in grants, including $50,000 from Hawai'i 3Rs.

Professionals were brought in to pour the foundation, which took the largest chunk of the money, $29,000. But that was the only work that had to be paid for.

The building's entire interior was stripped of damaged wood, pressure washed and painted. Doors, windows and framing were replaced. All that's left is for skilled military volunteers to do the wiring and plumbing, then the final walls can be put in place.

But Konnath will not be here to see the project completed this summer. His Air Force wife, Anne, was transferred, and the family is moving to California on May 14.

"I'd love to see the finished project," Konnath said. "I love doing something that will make the school better for the kids. It's going to give them something they never had. I just feel so sorry for them on rainy days when they can't run around and get that energy out — and soon they can."

Hickam Elementary, founded in 1950, is part of the Radford High School complex. The school is located on Hickam Air Force Base and has about 670 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Furukawa said she would often see Konnath working past midnight on the project.

"I asked if we could erect a statue of him, but he said no," Furukawa said. "He only wanted a letter of recommendation so he could do more volunteer work at the next school."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.