Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2013 — A well-matched partnership reaps $1 million grant [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
A well-matched partnership reaps $1 million grant
By Lisa Asato Wailani Robins and Gauhar Nguyen gush when they recall working together to secure a nearly $1 million federal grant to create a dual-language program for preschoolers at Kawaiaha'o Church School. The working relationship lasted two months and resulted in a three-year $949,911 grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Native Hawaiian Education Act. Nguyen, the grant writer, was "instrumental in getting us to this grant," says Robins, the school's director. "It's one thing to be able to work through the project in coming up with the idea and putting together a plan on how it's going to work, but to put it all into words and find all the resources (for) what you're trying to do - that was Gauhar," Robins said in an interview in July. She said getting the grant in September 2012, during a time of cutbacks, was even more of a feat. The two were introduced through the Ho'okahua Capacity-Building Program, whieh matches Native Hawaiian nonprofits and businesses with grant writers and other resources needed to "build eapaeity and ensure sustainability." The program, led by Peter Hanohano, falls under OHA's nonprofit sub-
sidiary, Hi'ilei Aloha LLC. "Unele Peter ... matched us up very well," Nguyen said. "Aunty Wailani and I have backgrounds in education; I have experience in writing and winning grants. Aunty Wailani (folks) had a really great idea. When we eame together and brought different skills and different experiences to the table, it really worked for us." Kawaiaha'o Church School's dual-language
program is designed to teach 3- to 6-year-old preschoolers Hawaiian and English simultaneously in a Montessori setting, whieh emphasizes independent work, active participation and adaptability, among other things. "From what we do know as Montessori educators, this is the age they ean learn more than one language at one time," said Robins, adding that she's hoping to track the students' learning even past the three years of the grant, as they continue through the school's upper grades, whieh top off at grade 5. The school incorporates Hawaiian on a limited basis in all of its programs. The dual-language program enrolls up to 30 students a year. It started with 16 students and as of July grew to 24 for the current fall session that began in August. "Through word of mouth we're getting more children eome through," Robins said, attributing some of the increase to the school's toddler program, where parents got interested after hearing about it. Unlike the state's immersion schools, whieh provide instruction in Hawaiian and introduce English in the fifth grade, the dual-language programincorporates both languages simultaneously.
Robins said the grant covers training for teachers at Chaminade University in Montessori certification, including language, math and child development, and has allowed her to hire a trainer to eome to the school three times a week to work with teachers on professional development and "apply what they're learning at Chaminade, whieh has been a huge benefit to the teachers." Under the grant, one teacher in the training program planned to transition to teach first- and second-grade, allowing preschool students to continue their Hawaiian-language learning in the future. The funding also covers making curriculum materials and various activities, such as makahiki, a camping trip and making pa'i 'ai. "Teachers provide parent workshops for families about eulture and language and parenting classes as well," Robins said. As for Nguyen, who started out in grants a decade ago with the U.S. Agency for Intemational Development, where her Kazakh-, Russian- and Eng-lish-speaking skills eame into good use, she attributes the school's successful grant to an innovative idea. "I think in many ways Kawaiaha'o Church School, they strive very mueh to be innovative and try to implement what works. A lot of what Aunty Wailani and her team talks about is grounded in evidence-based education, and I think that's the part where the content they gave me was very strong." Their success, too, ean be chalked up to good, old-fashioned chemistry, said Nguyen. "I think part of it was the personality match, how the team itself jived to produce a remarkable application." To learn more about the program, visit kawai ahaoschool.org or eall 585-0622. ■
EDUCATION
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Curriculum director Shari Martin, left, Kawaiaha'o Church School Director Wailani Robins, and grant writer Gauhar Nguyen, show some of their favorite teaching tools created for the dual-language program for 3- to 6-year-olds. - Photos: LisaAsato
Robins, left, and Nguyen, share a laugh at the school. Their ability to eliek made their partnership a successful one.