HAWAII'S SCHOOLS
COURTESY OF PUNAHOU SCHOOL
The Punahou community is looking for ways to work toward being more environmentally sustainable. Here, fifth-grade students help plant native trees in honor of Peace Trees Day.
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Service program focuses on environment
Student volunteers help set schoolwide goals for sustainability
By Linda Zhang
Punahou School
From recycling cans and bottles under the new HI-5 law to constructing more energy-efficient buildings, Punahou School is enacting a schoolwide initiative to promote environmental sustainability.
Punahou School
Name
Ka Punahou
Faculty adviser
Dan Mindich
Address
1601 Punahou St.
Honolulu 96822
Phone number
944-5711
President
Dr. James K. Scott
Colors
Buff and blue
Nickname
Buffanblu
Enrollment
3,750
(grades K-12)
Faculty and staff
650
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One of the driving forces in this movement comes from the student leaders and the staff at the Luke Center for Public Service, which was founded in April 2004. The Center encourages students to be involved in, lead and create new community service projects for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"It's important that we participate in the many conversations about sustainability within our school, island and global community," said Luke Center Director Carri Morgan.
Each year, the Luke Center focuses on three schoolwide service initiatives: hunger and homelessness, advancing literacy and environmental stewardship. These themes help Luke faculty and classroom teachers shape curricula tied to serving real community needs.
"As an island community, we depend immensely on what comes in from other places," Morgan said. "We need to live more wisely and aspire to provide more for our community locally."
Last year, a Sustainability Summit was held at Punahou over five days, bringing together about 40 students, faculty, trustees and community members to examine issues of sustainability, focusing primarily on environmental stewardship. The goal was to make plans outlining what people at Punahou could do to combat problems.
Much of the work in spreading these initiatives comes from student volunteers called Luke Leaders. Senior Kai Morrell, a Luke Leader who is also a student member of the Sustainability Summit, said: "It's been quite a challenge to continue to motivate and mobilize the large and diverse Punahou community toward a more sustainable future. However, I think if we can achieve our goals, we will make a significant impact on the world."
Punahou has made a commitment to energy efficiency on all new construction projects. The Case Middle School includes photovoltaic panels, making it a solar-powered building. Still, according to students and faculty, more has to be done.
Students and teachers have combined efforts to enact an effective sustainability plan. Researching the problem and educating the rest of the Punahou community are at the top of the list. "We have collected information and resources into an informational Web site, and we are planning upcoming events and actions in the future," said junior Camila Chaudron, a Luke Leader and Sustainability Summit member.
Students like Morrell and Chaudron, and the ongoing student activities that are planned, illustrate Luke Center's goal to inspire students to help with the community, but student leaders also give credit to the talented trio of Luke faculty members Carri Morgan, Paris Priore-Kim and Heather Williams, whose primary responsibility is their work with the Luke Center and its student-led projects.
"Our three wonderful Luke Center 'Aunties' are always there to assist with any projects we may have," said Luke leader Casey Mita, a senior. "Their experiences and resources allow them to answer any service questions we may have."
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Punahou urges students to help the community
A new program tells young people they are able to do well while they are doing good
By Lauren Rigney
Punahou School
Firmly rooted in the mission of Punahou School is the notion of raising students' awareness about public issues and guiding them as they develop social responsibility.
Consistent with the founders' vision, the school has made service an integral factor of its curriculum, most recently adding an innovative social entrepreneurship program funded by the Case Foundation in honor of Daniel H. Case III, brother of America Online co-founder and fellow Punahou graduate Steve Case.
The Case family established the program with the goal of broadening views on community service and instilling thought that leads to effective social change and successful economic welfare.
The catalyst of such inspirational thinking came from Daniel Case, who was involved in the creation of Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, a "not-for-profit organization with a for-profit mindset and a singular focus: to hasten the discovery of a cure for brain cancer."
Steve Case addressed the eighth- and 12th-grade classes on Nov. 3 to introduce the new Daniel H. Case III Social Entrepreneurship Program.
The concept of social entrepreneurship is fairly modern and does not limit itself to traditional means of community service, such as volunteerism and donation. Case clarified, "It is an opportunity to do well and do good, not just do well or do good."
With donations from the Case Foundation, Paris Priore-Kim, adviser of the new program and Luke Center assistant director, held the responsibility of creating a curriculum that would meet the Case family's objectives and coordinate with the schedules of both the teachers and students.
What emerged was the "Big Thinker" program in which socially motivated business entrepreneurs with local ties are invited to share their stories of success (and occasional failure) with groups of eighth-graders and offer students, as Priore-Kim described, "face-to-face, hands-on contact" with their modes of thinking.
In addition to emphasizing that "you can merge the workings and profits of a business with a nonprofit cause," the speakers teach the students that one needs to be creative, tenacious and confident with his or her plan of social service.
Paralleling the "Big Thinker" concept, modifications are in the works to further integrate social service into Punahou's high school curriculum. For years, seniors have been required to participate with a community service organization for an academic quarter and take one quarter of economics. Beginning this summer, students will instead attend a semester-long course that combines and connects volunteer work with economic lessons.
Senior Kate Ganiron, a student in the course, noticed the direct ties between the two aspects of the class. "While I was doing research for my economics project on poverty, I was able to experience and witness the daily lives of children who lived in those circumstances," she said.
Although Punahou values service to the community, it is still a private, preparatory school aiming to offer its students the best possible education.
Punahou School President Jim Scott said, "Punahou's academics will always be rigorous, but we want them to be relevant to one's life."
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YOU ASKED
"What was a meaningful community service activity that you have done?"
Jack Roney
"I have helped with upkeep and maintenance of the Hokule'a. It is important to support the effort to spread Hawaiian tradition."
Katie Bourke
"Every Saturday since the start of this past summer, I have been making crafts, which will be sold on Dec. 1 at the Punahou Arts and Crafts Fair to raise money for the school's scholarship program."
Paisley Cipres
"Since eighth grade, I have been a Holoku dance director, teaching students hula and directing dances. Teaching is a rewarding experience because I get to share my love of hula with others."
Tobie Reeuwijk
"With the rest of the football team, I went to Shriners Hospital to play with the younger patients. When I saw the smiles of those kids, it gave me deep happiness and a sense of meaning."
Erin Rementer
"As a Special Olympics volunteer, I refereed soccer games for the special teams of all ages. I enjoyed seeing them play and have fun."
Leigh Martel
"Working on a trail crew in Yosemite was meaningful because trails provide ways for people to connect with the natural world, which is increasingly being exploited."
Monica Lum
"For a community service club activity, I helped paint a gym and restroom area at a park in my neighborhood. I used to drive by the dirty, falling-apart gym all the time, so it felt good to contribute to the community by helping to fix it."
Austin Au
"My piano studio puts on a monthly concert for elderly people who are not able to get around easily. It feels nice to be able to play piano for them, and there is a further sense of satisfaction when they remember you and the pieces you have played."
Damian Pherigo
"As part of my American studies class, I made a video public service announcement to help people become better educated about stem-cell research."
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