Molokai teachers During his free time, 10-year-old Bobbi-Li Morris likes to go to his friend's house, play in a nearby gulch, pick bamboo and just explore in and around his home.
earn Disney
education honor
The 2 educators teach their
students to care for
the environment
By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"Go adventuring" is among his favorite things to do, the Molokai fifth-grader said.
But keeping Molokai a pristine place to explore is part of what Morris and his classmates at Kualapu'u Elementary are aiming to do as they delve into environmental issues such as pollution, recycling, water rights and renewable energy that impact the Friendly Isle.
"We try to make things better and try to fix things on Molokai," sixth-grader Andrew Keahi-Naki said. "I feel proud and I feel very happy that we get to investigate an issue that helps the environment."
They are being guided by their teachers, Vicki Newberry and Dara Lukonen, whose environmental science work with these Kualapu'u fifth- and sixth-graders has resulted in national recognition.
Newberry and Lukonen are among 35 teachers chosen from more than 111,000 nominations nationwide in the Disney Co.'s American Teacher Awards. They are being recognized in the team teaching category.
The pair will be flown next month to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., for an awards ceremony that will be televised in January.
A finalist will be selected Outstanding Teacher of the Year, which carries a $25,000 prize for the teacher and the teacher's school.
For being named an honoree, the Molokai teachers will share $10,000 while their school receives $5,000.
"I feel really good that I'm in this class right now because they're my teachers," said Florence Awai, also a sixth-grader. "They know a lot and they both care for the environment."
Called PRISM -- Providing Resolutions with Integrity for a Sustainable Moloka'i -- the Kualapu'u program which began in 1996 has students going into the community to thoroughly examine issues.
"We got data, we did surveys, we sorted out the data, we did graphs and we added some of our beliefs and we really worked together, worked hard to get the work done," Keahi-Naki said.
The students also present their findings in a public forum such as their annual symposium or at a public hearing, traveling across the state and to the mainland to do so.
For example, in looking at ways to reduce solid waste at landfills, the students worked with state Rep. Hermina Morita, chairwoman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, to introduce and lobby the Legislature on behalf of a bill that would encourage recycling of beer or soft drink bottles, Newberry said.
"The students wrote their own testimony, flew to Honolulu and presented that to the committee," Newberry said.
The so-called bottle bill, which remains on hold until next session, would have added 7 cents to the cost of each bottle with 5 cents returned to the consumer when they turned in the bottle.
The other 2 cents would have paid the cost of processing the empties.
The students also looked into whether their airport runway should be extended, a curbside recycling service should be established on the island and a brewery pub should be built across from an elementary school.
After spending years living and working elsewhere, both teachers settled on Molokai.
"I was looking to recapture that sense of community," Newberry said.
"I wanted to get back to the country," Lukonen said. "I wouldn't live anywhere else."
Some of the data the students have collected have been used by agencies in considering changes, their teachers said.
"We have students of all ranges, special needs, gifted and talented, shy, outspoken, rascals," Lukonen said. "We've given work that is meaningful."
She said adults are impressed by the students' work and really listen when the students testify.
"(Adults are) pretty awestruck and so are we, by the way," Newberry said. "I think the lesson to be learned is that students are capable of whole lot more than we think they are when they're being asked to participate and they're treated with respect."
The teachers say that the recognition they're receiving also is recognition for their students and the people of Moloka'i.
"It's kind of hard to accept the fact we're receiving this honor. To us, the focus is on the kids and their work," Lukonen said.