HILO — The Merrie Monarch Festival, always a colorful and fascinating cultural event, is serving as a living classroom this week to a group of sixth- and seventh-graders from a Big Island Hawaiian immersion school.

Accompanied by five teachers, 32 students from Ka Umeke Kaeo in Keaukaha have been regular — and very inquisitive — visitors to the many exhibits and demonstrations offered up during festival week in Hilo.

"Since we teach everything in the Hawaiian language, we thought it would be a good opportunity to see other practitioners of the culture do what they do," said Mahealani Kauahi, a first-year teacher at Ka Umeke Kaeo.

Kauahi said that while the students were impressed with arts such as lauhala making and quilting, what amazed them most "was how many people are still interested in the language and the arts of the Hawaiian culture."

When they've met practitioners who spoke Hawaiian, the students have asked questions in the language.

"It's all about reinforcement," Kauahi said. "They're really gaining a new appreciation of what they're doing in school."

And with Ka Umeke Kaeo's May Day celebration coming up, what better way to prepare for their dances than to take in what some of the best halau from around the state are offering?

"They can see all the different styles of portraying the same song," Kauahi said. "It's been a great experience."