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mei2012
EDUCATION
23
School builds garden boxes for Lunalilo Home By Lisa Asato
K
üpuna at Lunalilo Home now have two garden boxes sprouting Mänoa lettuce, cilantro and Swiss chard, thanks to the students of Hälau Kü Mäna, who turned their project-based learning skills into real-world applications. A garden box was on Lunalilo Home’s wish list, and when the students heard about it, it made sense that they pitch in to help, said junior Hope Whitney, the school’s sustainability officer who oversaw the project. “Küpuna do a lot of things for us that we might take for granted, and for them to ask for gardening boxes was perfect for our school,” she said. “We’re always outdoors – pulling weeds, planting kalo. And spending just a little por-
tion of our time (to help them) is not even enough compared to what the küpuna do for us, sharing their stories, always teaching us new lessons in life that we’re soon to encounter.” About a dozen haumana (students) from sixth through 12th grade helped with the construction project led by the student body council. American Savings Bank provided a $200 grant, and Whitney’s parents assisted with carpentry, providing tools and researching designs on the Internet. “We started with this one, this was our learning curve,” said Whitney’s mom, Leah, pointing to the first garden box they made, which was deeper and narrower. For the students, she said, the project was a marriage of math and power tools.
“It was a learning process for everybody,” she said. The school presented the garden boxes to the home on April 3. After a short hula presentation and speeches, students and küpuna gathered around one of the 5-footlong-by-3-1/2-foot-high boxes and got their hands dirty, planting young herbs, cherry tomatoes and leafy vegetables side by side. Lunalilo Trust Estate trustee Kamani Kuala‘au thanked the haumana and faculty, saying the herbs and plants “will nurture all of us here in our spirits.” What’s grown in the boxes will be used in meals, when possible, for the home’s 37 residents and about 20 adult day-care clients, said Lunalilo Home executive director J. Kuhio Asam.
Ha¯lau Ku¯ Ma¯na students Chansom Auwae, foreground, ‘A¯nuenueonalani Kaneakua Tui and Kamali‘i McShane planted a garden with ku¯puna Kenneth Okano, second from left, Clifford Kapololu and Henry Lot Kamehameha Lane, right, at Lunalilo Home. – Photo: Lisa Asato Evon Leilani Silva, who is one of the approximately 25 Native Hawaiians who live at the home, said the garden boxes were “a wonderful gift for all of us who live here. We’ll be using our minds and our hands to help it grow.”
Hälau Kü Mäna charter school is accepting applications for grades six to 12 through June. For information, visit halaukumana.org or call 945-1600.
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