KIHEI, Maui >> Makana Bender hopes a different approach at the new public high school in South Maui will enhance her interest in literature and help her in weaker subjects like mathematics. Kihei High to enjoy
high-tech advantageBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com"I'm hoping to find more ways you can really learn stuff," said Makana, 14, a former student at St. Anthony High School.
As many public schools near their opening day, a number of parents and students in South Maui appear enthusiastic about Kihei High School, "A New Century Public Charter School."
The school, the first charter school on Maui, has already reached its goal of enrolling 60 students from 10th through 12th grade and is continuing to develop a waiting list of students in anticipation that some will decide to transfer to another school.
The school, which opens Aug. 23, will be offering subjects like other public high schools, but the method of learning will be directed toward using high technology to conduct projects, said Gene Zarro, chairman of the South Maui Learning Ohana, a nonprofit group helping in the school's development.
"We're just planning to use technology as much as possible," Zarro said.
At the school's temporary location in the Kihei Youth Center, 15 computer workstations and 20 laptop computers will be available for students to use along with equipment, materials and instructional support for teachers totaling more than $600,000.
"We have a strong program going," Zarro said.
He said the school will be using a national high school program known as EAST -- Environmental and Spatial Technology -- designed to improve a student's computer literacy and problem-solving skills.
The software used in EAST allows students to work with computer programs in architecture, desktop publishing, 3-D animation, Web page design and surveying.
Last year, students from Arkansas, where EAST began, worked with high school students on Maui, using digital cameras to record historic sites and documenting their location through a global positioning system connected to satellites.
The EAST program has been added to the curriculum at Lahainaluna and Maui high schools and is scheduled to be offered at Baldwin and King Kekaulike high schools this year. Zarro said the EAST program is an elective at other schools but will be a required part of the learning at Kihei High School.
"In our school we plan to take the EAST project teaching method and apply it through the entire day," he said.
Zarro said the goal is to enroll 125 students from ninth to 12th grade next year and 250 to 300 students by the third year. The South Maui Learning Ohana hopes to have the first building constructed on the permanent campus near the Maui Research and Technology Park within three years.
Part of the long-range plan is to develop a relationship between the school and high-technology companies at the park to prepare students for the job market.
"We want to create a high-tech alternative," Zarro said. "We want to use high technology to teach everything."
Zarro said the Ohana is developing a group that will write grants for supporting the school's endeavors.
It also will be obtaining financial support from the state Department of Education through a formula that allows the school to receive $5,100 per student each year.
Maui Mayor James Apana has allocated $50,000 to the school to support computer learning under his administration's "Tech Ready" initiative. The faculty includes three teachers, two part-time educational assistants and Principal Rick Paul, former principal of King Kamehameha III School in Lahaina.
Paul has worked under the EAST program in Arkansas and helped to bring Arkansas students to work with Maui students last year.
Makana's mother, Marty-Jean Bender, said she believes her daughter will receive a better education at Kihei High School because the subjects are integrated with more projects.
"You're going to do more. You're going to learn more. You're going to be interested," Bender said.
Bender, a former teacher, said Makana wants to become a book editor, and the school will be establishing a goal development plan for each student to help individuals reach their learning objectives.
She said this individualized approach should help quiet types like her daughter from "slipping through the cracks."
Bender said she feels the new school in Kihei gives youths a chance to make a social connection with South Maui and readily identify themselves with the community.
Bender said the 45-minute drive to St. Anthony High School in Wailuku prevented her daughter from participating in extracurricular activities and obtaining a part-time job after school.
"It was impossible. It was too late. It was difficult," Bender said.
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