Native Hawaiian Garden

On Saturday, July 28, we will be working on our Native Hawaiian Garden from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  We will be creating garden beds, planting various Native Hawaiian plants, laying weed mat, spreading out gravel for the walk ways, and much more. If you would like to join us, please e-mail Ms. Obra at alexandra_obra@notes.k12.hi.us by July 18, 2012.

THANK YOU!!

Throughout this school year, our Native Hawaiian garden has received more and more support from the community and other organizations.  I wanted to take some time to thank these different community members and organizations for all that they have done to make this project come to life.  There is more work to be done, but a huge MAHALO for all that you have donated and done for us these past months. 

Mahalo to Mrs. Christy Sasaki, the parent of one of our 5^th graders, for coming out and working continuously within the garden (especially in the HOT Ewa sun).  Mrs. Sasaki has put in a lot of time in the garden, preparing the mounds for the planting and checking up on our taro patch to make sure everything is running smoothly.  She has also donated a lot of materials for the garden. 

Mahalo to Mr. Justin Keliipaakaua from Leeward Community College for donating the taro and uala for our agricultural section in the garden.  I also want to thank Justin for educating our students on various garden terms and native plants. 

Mahalo to the Alcos family for your support in the initial stages of our garden.  We would not have been able to start off our garden without your help. 

Mahalo to Mr. Cary Takenaka, the president of Takenaka Landscaping Company in Mililani, for coming out and bringing in his expertise on Native gardens.  He will be installing our drip system later on this month, laying down the foundation for the pathways, as well as other components within the garden.

Mahalo to HECO for collaborating with us on this project and making sure that all of our garden needs were being met.  They were able to recommend Mr. Cary and find experts from Hui Ku Maoli Ola to guide us to the right path with our plants and spacing for each plant.  HECO will also be in charge of putting in all of the plants for the last sections within the garden (medicinal plants, endangered plants, lowland, etc.)

Mahalo to Haseko and Ewa by Gentry for your kind donations.  We received a monetary donation from Gentry to help out with our garden expenses.  Haseko provided all of the dirt for our garden beds.  They were also able to provide the machinery and workers to prep our garden area. 

Mahalo to the following organizations for the grant opportunity and for the monetary support to start up our garden.  Kokua Hawaii Foundation, Chevron Grant (HaSTA), Youth Service America (Disney’s Friend for Change)

Mahalo to all of the parents and staff of Keone’ula Elementary for all of your support.  We could not have gotten this far without you.  You have donated time and money to help start off Keone’ulas first school garden.  Also thank you Mrs. Hirota for allowing us to continue with our garden project and for supporting the students ideas within the garden.  Another person we would like to recognize is Ms. Obra.  Thank you for coming out every Saturday to work in the garden and to support the students with this project.  Rain or shine, we knew that Ms. Obra would be out there with a smile ready to greet the students/volunteers with her positive attitude and energy. 

Lastly, a big MAHALO to the students for all of your enthusiasm and positive energy!  For those who came out and helped in the garden, I hope you had a great experience working in it and hopefully you will continue to take care of it in the future.  For the KIC students and 6^th graders (2011-2012) who are moving on, all of your hard work has paid off.  You researched for the plants that you wanted to have in the garden, you wrote donation letters to parents and community organizations/groups, you gave up your Saturdays to get down and dirty in the garden…and now it’s halfway done.  I hope you remember this project that you have started this school year and come back to help see it through. 

Keone’ula Cub Pride!!! 

Ms Coffin

Lehua Taro Planting with Ms Correia's class

Enjoy the pictures....

4th Graders help K.I.C. plant the 2nd row of Taro!

Hello Everyone!
A few weeks ago, Ms. Correia's 4th grade class came out to help K.I.C. plant our 2nd row of Taro! It was a lot of fun, and the 4th graders enjoyed the experience. They were very self-directed and needed little to no help at all when planting! All of the Taro plants are starting to grow quite fast. These Taro plants are actually a little bigger than the first row, therefore their leaves and stems will be a bit bigger as well.  Our second row of Taro is the Lehua type.  Mrs. Sasaki was able to educate us on the type of taro and the differences between the Mo'i and the Lehua. 

The 6th graders in Ms. Coffins class helped guide the 4th graders as they worked in the garden.  They used the tools efficiently to dig the dirt for a new home for the taro and weed the area around the garden. The students were also given a chance to name their taro so that they could come back and check on its progress.  One group named their taro Haloa, after a Hawaiian legend based on the name of the very first taro.  Amazing, right? 

After all that hard work, Mrs. Sasaki treated the hard working 4th and 6th graders to a cup of po'i.  Thank you Mrs. Sasaki for the lovely treat!  ALSO, Great job 4th graders....I hope you enjoyed working in the garden.  It is YOUR turn to watch over it once we leave.  However, we will come back to check on it so dont disappoint us. 

Look out for the pictures....

Sincerely,
Writers Team & Ms Coffin

GYSD: Partnering up with Running Club

 Hello Everyone!

The K.I.C. members and Running Club did a fantastic job working in the garden on our Global Youth Service Day (GYSD)! We also received a monetary donation from Disney Channel's Friends for Change program! What a great way to celebrate GYSD! The Running Club and K.I.C. got dirty shoveling dirt, working on the Taro section, and we even planted our first few Sweet Potato plants! There are two types of Sweet Potatoe that we planted: 'Uala Piko and 'Uala Iliahi. They are growing fairly well, and we water them everyday! 

As we mentioned, the Running club came along to help out with the garden as well. We interviewed a few of the students that came, and here are some of their thoughts on the garden:

Kaiya Sasaki:
"I came in and went straight to work." From shoveling, to planting, to pulling weeds, She wasn't afraid to get dirty. After doing a lot of hard work, she said, "Working in the garden was awesome and fun!" Helping out with the garden isn't her first experience with helping the Earth. Sometimes she volunteers at plantations. Maybe one day she can be a part of the K.I.C. crew!

Dayanara Arroyo:
Dayanara Arroyo, another 5th grader, help out K.I.C. out in the garden. She did many jobs like weeding and shoveling. "It was tiring, but fun!" she adds. Working on the garden really encouraged her to do more to help the Earth. She never leaves trash behind! Dayanara really cares about the Earth and plans to be a part of K.I.C. next year!

Michelle Winczner:
Michelle Winczner experienced many jobs such as digging and pulling weeds. "It was a lot of hard work. FUN!" Working in the garden with K.I.C. wasn't her first time gardening, however. Every year she helps the Earth by planting flowers and trees in the summer. Knowing that she can to more to help the Earth is what encourages her to join K.I.C.

Brandon Ramirez:

Just because Brandon is a 4th grader, that doesn't stop him from helping the Earth. Brandon was a part of the gardening group on April 21st. He mostly did some shoveling and weeding. Brandon contributes his time helping and cleaning up around his community. He may only be a student at Keone'ula elementary, but that doesn't mean he can't be a BIG help to save the Earth!

As you can see, you don't have to be in K.I.C. to make difference! Help save the Earth and make it a better place!

Sincerely,
The Writers and Planners

Published By: Nikki B
Edited By: Catherine J.

KIC in MidWeek

KIC Mid Week Article
KIC members Catherine Jara (Planners Team), Sara Tremmel (Artist Team), Shantelle Sagucio (Tech Team), Nikki Baduria (Writers/Planners Team) and Gabby Lonzame (Writers Team) were featured in the Midweek, Good Neighbor column on May 2, 2012.  The students talked about KIC and their focus project for this school year, our schools "Native Hawaiian" learning garden.    Read more about it in the article! 

Great job KIC....Keep "pushing for change"!

Ms Coffin

Global Youth Service Day

Are you wondering what Global Youth Service Day and Youth Service America are all about?  Oh well here is a quick description of what it is. 

YSA (Youth Service America) improves communities by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5 to 25, serving in substantive roles. Through grant programs, resource development, trainings and networking opportunities, YSA promotes a global culture of engaged youth committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership and achievement. Sponsored by YSA, Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is the largest service event in the world, celebrating and mobilizing the millions of children and youth who improve their communities each day of the year through service. GYSD 2013 will be held April 26-28, marking the event’s 25^th anniversary. For more information, visit www.GYSD.org and www.YSA.org.  

Here is a link to see what the KIC students goal were and how we were able to be a part of such a huge movement.

 http://gysd.org/projects2012/keoneula-elementary/native-hawaiian-learning-garden