Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 12, 1 December 2003 — Pūnana Leo turns iwakālua [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Pūnana Leo turns iwakālua

Hawaiian immersion -program celebrates t.wenty remarkable years

By Sterling Kini Wong Kaui Nani'ole remembers that as a student moving through the Hawaiian-lan-guage immersion program, her classrooms were always odd. The 22-year-old Nani'ole, a member of the first graduating class from a Hawaiian-immersion high school,

recalls that in second grade she and a handful of students were learning to speak Hawaiian in the basement of an old house in Hilo. Later, the students were moved into a basement at Keaukaha Elementary that was filled with storage boxes. In her seventh-grade year, because there was no intermediate immersion school to attend, her class remained at Keaukaha Elementarv and shared a

room with the sixthgrade immersion students. "There was a ehalk board partition and a file cabinet

that separated the classroom," said Nani'ole. "We had to be as quiet as possible, and the teachers told us to use our indoor voices so we wouldn't disturb the other class." 'Aha Pūnana Leo, a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the Hawaiian language, has eome a long way since struggling to find classroom space for its students. In November, the group celebrated its 20th anniversary at a fundraiser honoring U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka for their support of Native Hawaiian language. At the time of 'Aha Pūnana Leo's inception, the Hawaiian language was on the brink of extinction. By 1983, most Native Hawaiian speakers were over the age of 70, and

fewer than 50 people under the age of 18 were fluent. Since then, 'Aha Pūnana Leo has educated 2,200 students through its 12 preschools around the state, where classes are taught completely in Hawaiian. Today, there are 200 children enrolled in the organization's preschools, and 'Aha Pūnana Leo also co-administers, along with

the Hawai'i State Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, three Hawaiianmedium schools, whieh are K-12 sites. There are an additional 1,700 students enrolled in schools that were created by the state to provide 'Aha Pūnana Leo students with the opportunity to attend immersion schools within the Hawai'i puhlie school system, following their graduation from preschool. Graduates of the Hawaiianimmersion program have gone on to attend such prestigious universities as Stanford and Oxford. In addition, 'Aha Pūnana Leo has also provided $3.18 million in financial aid to 369 students pursuing degrees in higher education. Kauanoe Kamanā, one of the

organization's founding teachers, said the idea of Pūnana Leo, whieh means "nest of voices," was based on the Māori immersion school system in Aotearoa (New Zealand), whieh, at the time, was also in its infancy. She said the goal of 'Aha Pūnana Leo was to create a new generation of Native Hawaiian speakers by exposing children to

the language at an early age. Kamanā said that although Hawai'i's 1978 constitutional convention established both Hawaiian and English as the official state languages, members of 'Aha Pūnana Leo had to petition the Legislature to change an 1896 law that banned the use of Hawaiian language in schools. Although today 'Aha Pūnana Leo produces and distributes Hawaiian language curriculum materials, early Hawaiianimmersion student Kanani

Kawai'ae'a remembers that when she was in elementary school, there were no Hawaiian children's books. Every

Saturday, Kawai'ae'a said, parents, teachers and students would get together and make their own textbooks by taking English books and pasting Hawaiian words over the English ones. Kawai'ae'a was the first 'Aha Pūnana Leo student to graduate from college, receiving her degree in Hawaiian Studies from the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. This fall, her life eame full circle, bringing her back to her alma mater, Ke Kula 'O Nāwahīokalani'ōpu'u, where she teaches first- and second-grade classes. "Pūnana Leo has done so mueh for me, and I just felt it was my time to give back," Kawai'ae'a said. ■

Pūnana Leo has educated 2,200 students through its 12 preschools, whieh are taught completely in Hawaiian. Here, a Pūnana Leo student leams how to say what day it is. Photo: courtesy of Aha Pūnana Leo.