CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chelsey Wengler, 4, was one of the 198 children receiving scholarships yesterday at Kamehameha Schools. Nearly $1 million in scholarships was awarded.
Jodi Lee "was wondering how we were going to make it," having to pay her husband's medical school tuition, her daughter's $515-a-month preschool tuition and rent. Kamehameha puts
preschool in reachScholarships help 4-year-old Hawaiians
get an early educationBy Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.comThen help came from the Kamehameha Schools' new preschool scholarship program. Lee said she and her husband feel "very fortunate."
"We're living off his student loans, so every little bit helps," she said.
Lee said the Moiliili Hongwanji Pre-School is important for Sheridan, their only child, because it involves her with other children her age and helps her overall development.
"And she likes it," Lee added.
The Kamehameha Schools says early childhood education plays such a vital role in shaping a person's moral values and behavior that it has awarded nearly $1 million in scholarships to Hawaiian preschoolers, Chief Executive Officer Hamilton McCubbin said.
The new Pauahi Keiki Scholars program for 198 children in need helps the school meet its goal of reaching more youngsters of Hawaiian ancestry under the "Pauahi's Legacy Lives" plan, he said yesterday.
Based on state Department of Health data, the school estimates there are 6,000 Hawaiian 4-year-olds in the state. Kamehameha's 31 preschools currently reach 1,254 youngsters.
Building more preschools, at $2.5 million apiece, would be "cost prohibitive," so the plan is to pay for children to attend existing schools in the state, McCubbin said.
According to Jean Luka, financial director of the Ke Alii Pauahi Foundation, which administers the scholarships, 100 preschools are participating in the scholars program. There were 237 applicants for the scholarships, she said.
All preschools must be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children or approved by the Kamehameha Schools.
Parents are required to take an active role by performing volunteer work, attending parent-teacher conferences, participating in workshops and assuring their child maintains a good attendance, Lukas said.
All scholarships were given to 4-year-olds, but Rockne Freitas, executive director of the Pauahi Foundation, said they are looking into giving scholarships to 3-year-olds, and those younger than 3, as soon as they assess the need.
Echoing McCubbin, Freitas said, "We are acutely aware of the under-representation of Hawaiians" in every level of society, and that is why early education is so vital in the development of a child's personality and values, which will "determine the kind of people they will be in life."
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