Kaiāulu Koʻolau Summer Program

Kapua Chandler and Dr. Mehana Blaich Vaughn, a member of the Governing Board and a UH professor in the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Management, developed Kaiāulu Koʻolau, a four- week summer camp program to pilot components of Namahana School’s educational model and BPL’s Big Picture Living initiative. The program emerged when Mehana suggested establishing a summer program for Kīlauea/Koʻolau students due to the convoy stress and need for more ʻāina-based summer programs in the Kīlauea/Kalihiwai areas.

The program enrolled 15 students, ages eight to 16 from North Shore families who participated in four weeks of   ‘āina-based education that focused on food from our ʻāina, learning place names, sharing stories, and learning how to mālama ʻāina. Base camp for the summer program was  ʻĀina Hoʻokupu o Kīlauea thanks to Yosh L’Hote.

This pilot program provided valuable insights around the implementation of Namahana School’s educational model while serving as an important community engagement opportunity, sharing aspects of our Namahana School model firsthand with families.  In addition, the program built partnerships with local organizations and community members who have been providing field study opportunities for the students. 

Each day, students explored and learned from various locales in the Koʻolau moku. We spent a great deal of time learning the ahupuaʻa of Kāhili and spent time with various kupuna (elders) of our community. Highlights of the summer program were two camping trips—during one of which, each student made an imu and cooked their own chicken thigh!

Students will be uploading images from the summer program to the Big Picture Living website, which is an initiative of Big Picture Learning in partnership with American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

The summer program was a resounding success, thanks to  Kapua’s leadership and outreach and served as a wonderful preview of elements of a Namahana education.