KAHULUI — Maybe the General Plan just needs more smiley faces.

A group of Baldwin High School seniors dug into Maui's road map for growth Thursday night, adding their two cents at a General Plan Advisory Committee meeting at Maui Waena Intermediate School. The students came for their sociology class and ended up joining in a planning workshop and suggesting edits on the plan's cultural and environmental policies.

"Truthfully, I came here for the extra credit, but I learned so much more," said Jonie Gascon. "You realize all the changes they're thinking of making. You're going to come back from college and be, like, whoa!"

The General Plan Advisory Committee is currently reviewing the Maui Island Plan, which maps out projected growth and planning policies for the next 20 years.

The committee is trying a new meeting process that allows panel members to break into small groups that will pore over the document point by point in brainstorming sessions. After the groups present their findings to the full committee, committee members roam individually to review each other's work, marking ideas they like with dots.

County planners then compile the most popular ideas for the next meeting, and the full advisory committee will ultimately make a formal vote on the recommendations.

Planning staff suggested the new format as a way to allow more participation and speed up meetings, which have sometimes been cumbersome with 25 members.

Members of the public can also work in groups and present their findings for consideration.

Baldwin student Kaena Sado said she appreciated the chance to work in a small group, talk directly to county planners and offer ideas to the advisory committee.

"The process is good," she said.

The students had a chance to quiz Planning Director Jeff Hunt about the General Plan update, and ask long-range planner Kathleen Aoki to clarify concepts like view corridors and appropriate and inappropriate development.

"It was really nice how she broke it down," Gascon said.

Aoki was impressed too, and said she appreciated the students' system of marking ideas that needed more work with a neutral face, ideas they liked with a smiley face, and ideas they really, really liked with a big smiley face and a star.

"I like that," Aoki said. "I could work with that."

The students huddled over sheets of poster paper while brainstorming concepts they hoped to see included in the General Plan.

" 'Keep the country country' — where's a pen?" Gascon flashed, before neatly printing the motto on her group's poster in text-message shorthand: "Keep coun3 coun3!"

Maui High School senior Reuben Cantere said he tagged along with his girlfriend to the event, but he got excited about participating when the discussion turned to plans for Kahului Harbor, where he likes to surf.

"I didn't want certain things to happen, like the extension of the harbor," he said.

He learned about issues he hadn't been aware of, like plans to realign Honoapiilani Highway, and calls to protect Honolua Bay and Makena Beach.

"It made me understand more about what's going on on this island," he said.

With graduation in sight at the end of the month, the Baldwin students came to the meeting after Maui Tomorrow volunteer Angie Hoffman spoke to their class about environmental issues and the General Plan. Teacher Terry Sakevitz brought in hot pizza and fresh Krispy Kreme donuts to sweeten the deal.

"You feed 'em and give 'em extra credit," she said. "But they're all getting good grades already, and they bring their boyfriends too."

She said she was thrilled with their response.

"They're excited," she said. "They really had some ideas, and I think they did an excellent job."

County Planner Dave Mi-chaelson, who has been coordinating the advisory committee's review process, said he appreciated the students' fresh, enthusiastic perspective, and jumped at the chance to introduce them to his line of work. Michaelson said he planned to give a talk to the students this week and wanted to organize county planners to speak with students regularly starting next fall.

"Their hearts are open. Their brains are on fire, and they want to change the world," he said. "Planning is a great way to do that."

The students would have as much of an opportunity to shape the General Plan as anyone else at the meeting, he added.

"I can't wait to see their presentation," he said. "They're going to have a lot of dots."

• Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.