I stopped by the end-of-the-year pool party at BYU-H for the Hawaiian immersion schools in Ko’olauloa last week.

It was nice to dip my feet in the water, surrounded by laughing, splashing children, and talk story with parent Rebekah Walker and teacher Leone Sa’aga about the programs, which currently serve more than 60 students from preschool to 11th grade.

Hawaiian immersion preschooler So’i Sa’aga and first grader Kohala Sproat take a break at the programs’ year-end pool party.

The preschool, Pūnana Leo o Ko‘olauloa, began in 1997. The school operates in Kahuku at Rainbow School (on the grounds of the Kahuku Methodist Church).

Preschool graduates are fed into the DOE’s immersion program at Hau’ula Elementary, called Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Hau’ula. Kaiapuni started a year after Pūnana Leo with the younger grades. The oldest children in the program were in the third grade.

Those third graders have become a growth marker for the program, which has expanded each year as the students progressed through each grade level. This school year, they completed the 11th grade at Kahuku High School, and will be the highlight of a decade-long journey a year from now as the program’s first graduating class.

“The kupuna have wanted to see the return of our native language to our community,” said Leone Sa’aga, director of Pūnana Leo. “We are a Hawaiian community.”

Sa’aga, whose children are currently enrolled in the immersion programs, said that over 200 Hawaiian speakers have come through the programs to date.

“My goal is that my son will never, ever regret not being able to speak his native tongue,” said Sa’aga. “I never got the opportunity, and I want my children to. When they grow up, then they can decide (if they want to be involved in the Hawaiian community or not).”

Rebekah Walker, president of program parent group Na Leo Ka Ko’o o Ko’olauloa, enrolled her children for similar reasons.

“I wanted my kids to know that they are Hawaiian. There is meaning to the things that they do in school…we love it. For us, it’s a family thing,” said Walker, who also described the special connection students in the program have with local kupuna.

Sa’aga stressed that any family–Hawaiian or not–interested in having their children learn to speak Hawaiian are welcome (”we take anybody and everybody!”), but it’s important to keep in mind that this program teaches more than just the language. The programs use the community as a classroom to teach values and culture.

Kaiapuni students participate in a beach cleanup at Kahana Bay. Some other community activities the students participate in include working in area lo’i (taro patches), visiting heiau, and putting on a Kupuna Day.

Photos courtesy Kawehi Kammerer

One of the challenges facing the elementary and high school programs includes a shortage of DOE-allotted teachers; the high school program has 2 full-time teachers overseeing grades 7-11, with 3 covering K-6. It’s also been a huge challenge to adapt cultural lessons and concepts to No Child Left Behind, as required of all public school systems.

Getting the word out has been a challenge, as well. Currently, new enrollment comes from word of mouth and a sign hanging on a fence in Kahuku. I guess I should be more observant; I’ve never seen the sign, and I didn’t even know the programs existed–and I’ve lived out here my entire life!

My impression of the immersion programs out here in Ko’olauloa: it’s a tight-knit community of Hawaiians–and Hawaiians at heart–who share a love for the language and culture of our island home.

“The reason (we started this program) is to identify with who we are. That was lost,” said Sa’aga, adding that the Ko’olauloa programs are particularly important because “our children should be able to stay in our community to learn the language, play sports, and not be displaced.”

The families who have worked hard to ensure that there is a program here for their children deserve a pat on the back. A large chunk of my classmates from Kahuku are Hawaiian, and very few ever learned to speak the language–I know that they would have taken advantage of these programs had they been around back then. Thanks to these persevering parents, teachers, and community members, schoolchildren today have that choice.