Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 6, 1 June 1996 — Education and inspiration are the tools at Na Pua Noʻeau [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Education and inspiration are the tools at Na Pua Noʻeau

by Kelli Meskin Na Pua No'eau has expanded. With support from OHA's education division, this summer the program for gifted and talented Hawaiian children 1 will be on O'ahu, Kaua'i and Maui. The Summer program will begin June 16th on Kaua'i, 1 O'ahu, Maui and in Hilo for 180 students across the state. The program originally only offered summer programs at UH Hilo. In 1993, Na Pua No'eau expanded due to requests from parents to have the program year round and throughout the islands. OHA answered that request by supplying the funding for the expansion. "In most gifted and talented programs, you've got to I be high in academic, verbal and mathematical areas. It doesn't necessarily pan out that way for our kids," Na Pua No'eau Director David Sing explains. Programs were structured according to baniers that excluded Hawaiian children from being represented in gifted education.

"One of the things we did was not to say who's gifted and who's not, but rather to be more inclusive," said Sing. "We've steered away from the traditional terminology of gifted and talented in the way the U.S. looks at it. The U.S. way is very exclusive, you're in or you're out." With Na Pua No'eau, children are evaluated on their interest in a certain field and how mueh they know | about that area. The program gives children the vision of what is possible and brings out their passion in an area."The kids who really succeed, the factors that are important are not related to abihty so mueh as incentive and interest," Sing says. Whatever a students interest may be Na Pua No'eau ean connect them to the "educational pipeline." The program utilizes information through the University of

Hawai'i's higher learning institutes as well as supportive Hawaiian organizations and Mainland organizations like the American Indian Research and Development, ine. These children get the latest and most advanced information in the areas of astronomy, aquaculture, volcanology, art and more. Na Pua No'eau is meant to help students move through the transition of high school to college and even into a career. The program is still young and it's oldest students are young. The few students who have graduated ffom high school eome back and volunteer for Super Saturdays and summer programs. One former Na Pua No'eau student is a ffeshman at UH Hilo in pre-med. Sing says that because of her experience in Na Pua No'eau she has already done extensive research in the area of medicine. By volimteering for other medical workshops in Na Pua No'eau she meets the professionals in the medical field, and ean access them for information later. Na Pua No'eau's expansions will allow 2,000 ehildren across the state participate in its activities every year. "The more they get involved that will help them towards higher aspirations," Sing says.

Na Pua No'eau Summer lnstitute 94, Ho'okalai (Woodcarving)