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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, January 11, 2007

Garden helps cultivate math, science skills

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer

Community volunteer Josh Dawrs, teacher Gail Dawrs and garden coordinator Leona Kassel help guide Kahakai Elementary School's schoolwide project.

Scott Tamura

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AT A GLANCE

Where: 76-147 Royal Poinciana Drive, Kailua, Kona, Hawai'i

Phone: (808) 327-4313

Principal: Jessica Yamasawa, four years

School nickname: Ali'is

School colors: Red and yellow

History: The school opened in September 1982 with about 200 students in grades K-5. The school grew to more than 700 students and at one time housed a public charter school. Headstart will begin a program there this year.

Testing: Here's how Kahakai Elementary students fared on the most recent standardized tests:

  • Stanford Achievement Test. Listed is the combined percentage of pupils scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent: Third-grade reading, 74 percent; math, 84 percent. Fourth-grade reading, 70 percent; math, 78 percent. Fifth-grade reading, 77 percent; math, 78 percent.

  • Hawai'i State Assessment. Listed is the combined percentage of pupils meeting or exceeding state standards, and a comparison with the state average in parentheses: Third-grade reading, 33 percent, (state average: 50.2 percent); math, 15 percent, (30 percent). Fourth-grade reading, 52 percent, (58.1 percent); math, 21 percent, (32.5 percent). Fifth-grade reading, 34 percent, (43.5 percent); math, 15 percent, (24 percent).

    Computers: About 225, including two computer labs

    Enrollment: 575

    Low-income enrollment: 42 percent

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    At Kahakai Elementary School in Kailua, Kona, math and science are sometimes learned in a garden where kindergartners create growth charts from data they have collected and older students make analyses and draw conclusions.

    As part of the project, students took a field trip to a working farm in Waimea where they saw and tasted vegetables they never heard of, said school principal Jessica Yamasawa.

    And they don't only learn from the garden, they use it for service projects such as preparing food grown there and feeding it to the needy, Yamasawa said.

    "If we want society to grow in a positive way we have to take these actions and the children want to engage in them," she said, adding that the garden is a way to make public education relevant. "We are already studying math and science but if you cannot engage the children, then you lose that opportunity to get them to really learn what you want them to learn. And if you do things that allow the whole body to get involved, they're more willing. It's exciting."

    The garden evolved through a federal grant that supports hands-on math and science activities, Yamasawa said. The project started small, but as children saw other students working, producing and eating from the garden they begged to participate. Now, after two years, the whole school is involved and every class has at least one of the 37, 4-foot-by-8-foot raised plots, she said.

    The kindergartners compare the growth of their plants to their height, learning perspective without even trying, and older students have laptop computers to store their data for graphs and other projects, Yamasawa said.

    The demonstration project was supported by the Kona Young Farmers — average age 75 — who worked with part-time teacher Leona Kassel to build and prepare the garden plots, Yamasawa said. The Kona Outdoor Circle supported the garden with a grant.

    The idea to create the learning garden grew from Yamasawa's own childhood experience of partnering with an older child at Koloa Elementary School on Kaua'i and growing a sunflower, she said.

    "The delight of my young life was watching this plant grow from a seed, " Yamasawa said. "I remember standing and looking up at this big sunflower head bursting forth. It was one of my favorite memories."

    The garden engages the students, making them enthusiastic about learning and coming to school, Yamasawa said.

  • What are you most proud of? Teamwork that involves the principal, custodian, cafeteria workers and administrators who pitch in to help the teacher educate students, Yamasawa said.

    "When you come down to it, it's all about the people who share in the vision of what quality education can look like," Yamasawa said. "The jewels are really the people, every single one."

  • Everybody at our school knows: Kassel, who works with students in the garden.

  • Our biggest challenge: Students come to school with more than an educational need. They have social shortcomings that the schools are trying to fulfill but the school doesn't have the budget to meet all of their requirements, she said.

  • What we need: More community involvement. This year Yamasawa initiated the Ali'i Cafe, where fifth-grade students can use good-conduct points to "purchase" a reserved seat in a special area of the cafeteria to sit with their friends. The area is cordoned off from the rest of the students, and a special dessert is provided.

    "The children say they feel respected, they feel honored," Yamasawa said. Getting a table requires planning and saving. It takes about two weeks to earn enough points to reserve a spot. Yamasawa has been providing the dessert and running the cash register, but recently Big Island Grill agreed to help out. The school needs more supporters like that, she said.

  • Special events: This month the school will implement its 21st Century Learning Communities Grant project to create a hub at the school for tutorial services and enrichment programs for adults and children in the community at large. There will be second language classes for families that focus on technologies and video projects for students, among other things.

    Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.