Art shines on Kahului campus

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

KAHULUI, Maui — Despite increasing pressure on educators to focus on reading and math, officials at Maui Waena Intermediate School maintain a strong commitment to the fine arts inside and outside the classroom.

Eighth-grader Alvin Acosta paints a dragon design on a column at Maui Waena Intermediate School, where student art is a source of pride. Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser

This spring marked the third year of the school's Fine Arts Festival, which showcases the band, student artwork, drama performances and poetry readings.

Ten-year band teacher Scot Kiyonaga noted national research showing that students who participate in art and music fare better in other academic areas.

"The fine arts help to develop the whole child not just to solve problems and to read, but to appreciate the things around them," he said. "They develop a critical eye and ear, and a sense of pride that they contributed to the beauty of the campus."

Art teacher Jeanne Rodriguez said giving adolescents an outlet for their creativity is important during a time of emotional, social and physical changes. "It's a good release for them," she said. "It's so important to be able to express themselves. It helps them take pride in their school and it keeps the graffiti down."

Both teachers credited Principal Jamie Yap for not letting the arts slip through the cracks. Yap learned recently that Maui Waena had won a $3,000 Arts Excellence Award "for its support of the arts and arts-integrated education." The award is sponsored by the Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education.

• What are you most proud of? "How we take care of each other, respect each other, and our inclusive culture," Yap said. "Our vision statement says it all: 'We are a caring community that challenges and strengthens the body, spirit and mind.' "

• Best-kept secret: The fine arts department.

• Everybody at our school knows: Principal Yap, because of his daily morning announcements via closed-circuit TV.

• Our biggest challenge: Meeting the social, emotional, intellectual and physical needs of middle-school students while trying to meet Annual Yearly Progress and No Child Left Behind expectations.

• What we need: More staffing to allow teachers to have team planning time during the school day. Maui Waena is in its ninth year of grouping pupils into "houses" by teams, to better track student development. In addition, every student spends at least 30 minutes a day with an advisory teacher.