Hawaiian immersion comes of age

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hali'a Marks is happy as a Kamehameha Schools freshman, but there's always that slight letdown at the end of Hawaiian language class. That's because when the bell rings, people get up and go — speaking English, mostly.

"I miss the ability to speak Hawaiian every day," Marks said. "At 'Anuenue, there was no actual class, it was an everyday thing. You could speak Hawaiian to your friends and all of your teachers."

Hali'a's brother Tyson is similarly content at Saint Louis School now, although the high-schooler quickly exhausted its entire Hawaiian language curriculum.

"I took all the classes possible," he said.

They and eldest brother Keola, now in college, are alumni of Punana Leo, the nesting place of the Hawaiian language renaissance, which is having an anniversary gala today at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom.

The event is like a coming-of-age party for 'Aha Punana Leo, the immersion network's parent organization, which has never before attempted such a high-ticket fund-raiser, said Lynn Waters, one of the organizers.

"It's a way of introducing the Hawaiian immersion program to corporate Hawai'i," she said, citing a roster of about 700 attendees buying the pricey seats and tables.

The anniversary is a milepost to the proponents of immersion, who link it with tremendous growth in Hawaiian language education and with overall academic success for its alumni.

In 1983, when immersion education began in the Hilo Punana Leo preschool, only 48 Hawaiian children under the age of 18 could speak Hawaiian fluently, said Pila Wilson, one of the founders of the 'Aha and part of the faculty at the Hawaiian Language College, University of Hawai'i-Hilo.

In 20 years, nearly 2,000 children have been educated in Hawaiian immersion (also referred to as Hawaiian Medium Education). Students move from preschool through the system in a variety of ways, Wilson said. They move on to one of the full-immersion campuses (including 'Anue-nue and Samuel Kamakau on O'ahu, and Nawahiokalani'opu'u in Hilo) or to partial-immersion programs based on public school campuses on all islands.

Students can continue immersion beyond high school at Hawaiian Language College, but not all do. The Marks boys all did their schooling in Hawaiian through elementary school at 'Anuenue, the public immersion school in Palolo, before their parents decided it was time for a change at seventh grade.

"They were getting excellent grades," said their mother, Laurie Marks. "I didn't think it was challenging enough.

"The culture part was there, no question about that," she said. "I did want the language, but I wanted more, to prep them for college and stuff.

"That was my choice, not their choice."

Other parents felt an instant calling to the program, making a commitment that carried whole families through to graduation. Take Lilinoe and Laiana Wong. Each had taken an interest in Punana Leo for different reasons. Lilinoe wanted to continue the Hawaiian language skills she observed in her grandmother and great-uncle; Laiana felt a need to pursue his Hawaiian roots, which had gone dormant after his father died.

"Being fair, when people looked at me, they didn't see the Hawaiian. That was a little painful," he said. "I wanted to have some other manifestation of my Hawaiian-ness. My skin color and features weren't doing it, so I guess language was the way."

All three of their sons went through the program.

Punana Leo requires parents to study Hawaiian as well, and the Wongs embraced the process to the point where Lilinoe now works at the Kalihi preschool, while her husband is a UH doctoral candidate in linguistics.

'Aha Punana Leo is honoring U.S. Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka at its gala tonight, to thank them for their help securing funding for the programs — one of the continuing concerns, Wilson said.

There are also worries that the federal No Child Left Behind educational requirements will work at cross-purposes with language immersion, he said, something the 'Aha is discussing with state education officials.

And there's the hope that the same partnerships immersion education has struck with public schools can be matched in private schools as well, he said.

The Wongs hope that the immersion movement will continue to flourish and that 20 years hasn't brought complacency.

"The first people, they're full of all this zeal and commitment," Laiana said. "It's hard to pass that on to the next generation. I'm hoping that it will continue."

Reach Vicki Viotti at 525-8053 or at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com.