By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Out of desperation often come wonderful ideas. And when those ideas involve the education of children, they are of interest to us all.

Here are two examples, both of which involve nurturing middle school students into a greater understanding of themselves and the world.

The first involves an essay contest conceived by Punahou teacher Jonathan Koshiba as a way to motivate his sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to write.

"(It's) a turbulent time, when support, recognition and channels for personal expression are critical to healthy development," he says. "Middle school students are right in the middle between childhood and adulthood."

Thus was born '"Write in the Middle" — an annual writing contest to give this tender group of blossoming kids the chance to express their thoughts. It has received support from a variety of fellow educators and from leaders in the public, private and charter school systems.

"Middle school writing is often creative, powerful and insightful," says Koshiba. Because of this time of accelerating physical and emotional growth, children write with depth and poignancy.

Koshiba is forging ahead to organize the contest and hopes that students, teachers and schools communitywide will embrace the idea of a statewide competition to encourage students to look inside themselves.

He has incorporated the name "Write in the Middle," and the group will offer prizes for winners at school, district and state levels, along with an annual recognition banquet.

Interested people may reach Koshiba at Write in the Middle, 1811 Kumakani Place, Honolulu, HI 96821.

The second idea comes from frustrated parents Ann and Ken Yabusaki, who a few years ago were tired of having their two children constantly ask for extra money after they'd spent their allowance.

Yabusaki, a biochemist in the University of Hawai'i's John A. Burns School of Medicine, and his psychologist wife, who works with the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawai'i, tried out an experiment in financial management on their own children and then came up with the "Captain Broke Financial Aid Kit," a packet of cool kid stuff.

It's a creative step beyond weekly allowance.

"Our children were nickel and diming us," says Yabusaki, "coming to us constantly for money when they'd already spent their allowances."

So the couple created a card, drew up a contract for all to sign, and explained to the kids that the card was good for an agreed amount of money from their "sponsor" (their parents and/or grandparents) each month, he says. Because the kids were only 10 and 12 at the time, they picked $10 a month.

"The premise was learning without knowing," says Yabusaki. "It was based on making children feel special in the sense they would have something guaranteed."

In signing the contract, the children agreed to show the card in order to receive the promised monthly money. No card, no bucks. It taught them, with fun, to look after personal papers, understand and abide by contracts and manage their money. It also taught orderly record-keeping because of the area allotted to list what the money was used for.

The Yabusakis have about 4,000 kits available for free. Reach them at geckogroup@cs.com.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.