OUR SCHOOLS • LEHUA ELEMENTARY
Pearl City campus is a pocket of happy learning

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer

Not even the steady din of cars whizzing by on H-1 Freeway can squelch the sounds of laughter and learning from Lehua Elementary School in Pearl City.

Lehua Elementary School pupils, from left, Sharon Ieremia, Brooke Kamahiai, Darius Zachary, Xavier Ducosin and Hailey Foster watch Jonathan McClure edit a video to be broadcast to the student body. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The students give up recesses to participate and to learn how to edit video on computers and how to conduct interviews and write stories. The broadcast room is the fruit of several years' worth of technology fun runs, said principal Fay Toyama.

This is Toyama's first year at Lehua after serving as vice principal of Waipahu High School. Her first five months have been whirlwind of activities, from planting a garden of native species to replacing air conditioners and aging chalkboards with the help of area service clubs and the strong military partnerships, Toyama said.

What strikes her the most about Lehua Elementary is the eagerness of the community and parents to help at the school.

"One of our parents, Leah Roberto, helped to organize the cleanup (of an unauthorized dumping ground) in the area across the street from our school," Toyama said.

Two months ago, groups of parents and military submariners painted hopscotch game grids on the sidewalks and planted native species gardens, she said.

That team spirit is an important asset for a school that qualifies for federal Title I money because of its percentage of lower-income children and where nearly three-quarters of the students have parents in the military.

A focal point of the school is its Ohana Center, where Lehua's parent board can hold their meetings and where memory books can be made for the students to take with them when they go on to their new school.

"We've been very busy this fall," Toyama said. "For a small school, we do a lot. It's because our people on the staff are very caring."

The school, built in 1964 before H-1 Freeway was constructed, still has some classrooms that are not air-conditioned and suffer from the freeway noise. But it's a school that's in transition, Toyama said.

"The freeway is noisy," Toyama said. "We have these rooms closest to the freeway overpass air-conditioned. If not it would be very noisy."

• What are you most proud of: The wide-ranging support from the community, said Toyama. From the business community, to the submariners, to the Lions and Rotary clubs, the school has been benefiting from their volunteerism, she said.

• Best-kept secret: "Harry Omine, our head custodian, who was born under a monkeypod tree next to our school. Harry came to work at Lehua four years after it was built at its present site in 1964. He's never left. It's like he never left home."

• Everybody at our school knows: Anne Nakamura, Glenn Arine and Joy Baptiste, said Toyama, who couldn't pick just one person. "They're all such great people."

• Our biggest challenge: Keeping the school moving forward when nearly three-fourths of the students are from military families and are likely to eventually move away. And encouraging more parent participation.

• What we need: More air conditioning in the classrooms to shut out the freeway noise.

• Projects: In the annual Penny Drive, boys and girls compete to bring in the most pennies. The money is used to help others in need. The school raised $1,031.46 for the community service project. The school's student council approached charities and donated the money.

Students also participate in an annual canned food drive.

Then there's Three T's — Take Care of Yourself, Take Care of Others and Take Care of This Place — a Positive Behavioral Supports project.

• Special events: Parents Day is an annual breakfast at the school. Parent-Child Dance is in February, when honor roll students are recognized. Campus Beautification is a two-day event in the fall when the sidewalk hopscotch paintings are redrawn and native species are planted around the seven-acre campus. Gingerbread making is a family event during December.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.