Hawai‘i Community Foundation supports HPA partnership with public schools Two years ago, thanks in large part to the generosity of Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF), HPA established a public/private partnership with Waimea Elementary and Waimea Middle School to inspire young learners over the critical summer months. This partnership, Hui Kauwela, leverages the unique and broad educational offerings of HPA to expand educational opportunities for Waimea students. Last summer, thanks to a new grant from HCF to support career-connected STEM learning, HPA was able to provide 11 scholarships for students to attend Hui Kauwela: three to the original cohort of students from the inaugural program; four to returning students from the program’s second year, and four to new rising sixth graders from Waimea Elementary. Modeled after the successful KA‘I program at ‘Iolani and the PUEO program at Punahou, Hui Kauwela seeks to build a strong, ongoing Hawai‘i Island initiative.
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Ideally, each student will return to the program for six summers until graduating from high school. A new sixth grade cohort will be added each year. At capacity, HPA will host 24 students from Waimea Elementary, Waimea Middle School, and Honoka‘a High School. The new grant from HCF also supports HPA’s fall semester STEM course offerings at both the Middle and Upper Schools. These courses foster inquiry-based learning and help inspire students toward future careers through real-world problem solving. In Julie Camarillo’s Middle School HIKI NŌ course, for example, students script and produce short film segments for PBS. Throughout the process, they test and adapt their work with other schools and market professionals across the community. These kinds of courses are an ideal laboratory for career-connected learning, and HPA is excited for the opportunity to put this grant to work. •