Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 5, 1 May 2017 — STEM scholars shine [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STEM scholars shine

OHA recognizes four Hawaiian language immersion students for advancing to the state science fair

By Sterling Wong The Office of Hawaiian Affairs recognized four students whose Hawaiian language science projects qualified for this year's state science fair, whieh was held April 10-12 at the Hawai'i Convention Center. OHA Chair Colette Y. Machado and Sen. J. Kalani English presented the students eaeh with a certificate of recognition, a $100 scholarship and an ipu heke at the April 12 awards ceremony for the 60th annual Hawai'i State Science and Engineering Fair. "We are so proud of these haumāna (students)," said Chair Machado. "They carry on the legacy of our kūpuna's brilliance and serve as an inspiration for our Lāhui."

The four students all attend Ke Kula Kaiapuni 'o Ānuenue and advanced to the state science fair from the Honolulu District Science and Engineering Fair. The four students submitted two joint projects: > Kawaiola Bento (6th grade) > Kalei Kaneakua-Rauschen-burg (6th grade) Project Title: Ka Ikaika o ke Kaula Hawai'i Category: Material Science > Kawai Kaneakua-Rauschen-burg ( 1 lth grade) > Kamaiei Krug ( 1 lth grade) Project Title: 'O ka 'Ao'ao Hea o ka Mokupuni ka 'Ao'ao Nona ka

Pa'akai he Nui Loa ma ke Kai? Category: Chemistry In recent years, a growing number of science projects produced in 'ōlelo Hawai'i have been submitted to various district science fairs across the state. Since 2015, at least one Hawaiian language science project has advanced to the Hawai'i State Science and Engineering Fair, and this year's two Hawaiian language submissions are the most to have made it this far in the same year. "The presence of these Hawaiian language science projects at the state

science fair is an educational opportunity for all in our state to understand that Hawaiian is a viable language for home, school, scienee fairs, business, govemment, and everywhere in between," said Kamana'opono Crabbe, OHA Chief Executive Officer and Ka Pouhana. "It clearly demonstrates that our Hawaiian immersion students ean be success-

ful in the Hawaiian language in any context they are placed in, and it speaks to how far the Hawaiian lan-

guage revitalization movement has progressed in the last 30 years." Sen. J. Kalani English, a strong advocate of Hawaiian language, agreed. "These science projects give us a ehanee to reflect on the Hawaiian immersion community's accomplishments, and celebrate the fact that because our children speak Hawaiian, they ean advance to the

highest levels of achievement in all of their endeavors," said Sen. English. "The biggest victory of all is

the recognition that Hawaiian is not something that ean hold us back, but rather, it is the vehicle that enables every member of our community to bring their dreams to fruition." While onee spoken throughout Hawai'i by Native Hawaiians and foreigners alike, 'ōlelo Hawai'i was considered to be nearly extinct by the 1980s, when fewer than 50

fluent speakers under the age of 18 were left. A major reason for the deterioration of the Hawaiian language was an 1896 law that required English instruction in Hawai'i schools. In practice, this law functioned to ban students from speaking 'ōlelo Hawai'i. Efforts to preserve the language over the years have included 'Aha Pūnana Leo's Hawaiian language immersion preschools and the Hawaiian language pro-

grams of the University of Hawai'i system. In 1978, the Hawai'i State Legislature recognized Hawaiian as

a co-official language of Hawai'i, thereby making Hawai'i the first state in the union to designate an indigenous language an official state language. Also among these 'ōlelo Hawai'i revitalization initiatives was the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP), known as Ka Papahana

Kaiapuni. HLIP was started in 1986 to revitalize the Hawaiian language by establishing the next generation of native speakers through the puhlie school system. Today, HLIP is offered at 23 schools and educates more than 2,000 students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The four Hawaiian language students recognized today attend Ānuenue, whieh is an HLIP school serving grades K-12 in Palolo. "It is important to Ānuenue and the Papahana Kaiapuni that our

students' projects are done in the Hawaiian

language, whieh is the language

af instruction in our school," said Ānuenue School Curriculum Coordinator Leilani Kamalani. "We have asserted that because Hawaiian is an official language of the State af Hawai'i, our students' project boards should be allowed to be eompletely in Hawaiian. We appreeiate the support of the Office of Hawaiian Education and the Hawaiian language community, including Kanoelani Steward, volunteer Hawaiian-speaking judge, as well as the Hawai'i Academy of Science, for allowing that to happen. We also appreciate the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for recognizing the work of aur students. Mahalo nui i ke kāko'o 'ana i ka ho'ona'auao Hawai'i." ■

Follow us: U, /oha_ .hawaii | Fan us:B/officeofhawaiianaffairs | Watoh us: Youilfi /OHAHawaii j HO'ONAAUAO ^ > EDUCATION f

Front: (L-R) Kawaiola Bento and Kalei Kaneakua-Rauschenburg; Back: (L-R) Kahula Reed (Kumu), Kawai KaneakuaRauschenburg, Edmund Kamano (Kumu) - Photos: Aliee Silbanuz

(L-R) Kawai Kaneakua-Rauschenburg, Kalei Kaneakua-Rauschenburg, Sen. J. Kalani English, Kawaiola Bento, and OHA Chair Colette Y. Machado.