MICHELLE MUELLER / MMUELLER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ke Kula O Samuel M. Kamakau student Kukea Naber worked on a feather lei that he wore on Saturday for graduation ceremonies for the Hawaiian immersion charter school in Kailua.
Immersion schools
finally come of age105 students so far have gained
diplomas in Hawaiian programs
Standing as tall as ancient koa trees, Emilia Kaawa and Kukea Naber chant their genealogies. Their voices carry across the lawn to the rest of the school by the soft Kailua tradewinds to the ears of kindergartners.
One day soon, these keiki will be on that stage, too, practicing for graduation.
But on Saturday all attention was on the first two graduates of Ke Kula o Samuel M. Kamakau, a Hawaiian immersion charter school opened in 2000.
Kaawa and Naber joined the other 31 graduates from six other immersion schools around the state as the next wave of students educated completely in Hawaiian.
Since 1999 the six immersion schools have produced 105 graduates.
The history of Hawaiian immersion schools has not always been smooth. From the first Punanaleo preschool in 1985 in Hilo, students have had to help lobby for funds from the state, learn from books with the Hawaiian translation glued over the English and have been the guinea pigs for many curriculum ideas.
From that first preschool, 22 other preschool, elementary and high schools have sprung up, educating almost 1,700 students on five islands.
And for the first time, three students raised in the Niihau dialect of Hawaiian will graduate this week from Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha on Kauai, using that same dialect for all their studies.
At noon Saturday, Kaawa and Naber graduated with a wealth of cultural and academic knowledge and the ability to think in two worlds -- Hawaiian and English.
"I think we are special," Kaawa said. "I couldn't imagine my life without an immersion school."
She started her education in Hawaiian at preschool, and Naber started kindergarten at an immersion school in Puohala, Kaneohe.
"We learn the exact same things as people in public schools but in a different language," Kaawa said.
The staff of 12 teachers admit they take a little different approach to the traditional subjects.
"We do project-based learning," said "poo kumu" Principal Makalapua Kaawa, who is also Emilia's mother. "We want the knowledge they learn to be useful."
The school was excited to graduate their first students, and acknowledge the process it took to get to this point.
"We have reached a level, a milestone, where we can see the fruits of our labor, and we will keep finding resources to provide the best we can," said Makalapua Kaawa.
Luahiwa Namahoe, communications coordinator for the Aha Punanaleo, which provides funding for the immersion schools, agrees that the program is all grown up.
She said, "Teachers are thinking outside the box to create solutions to the programs' problems. We are rolling up our sleeves, doing the work, creating curriculum and moving ahead."
Some critics point to low competency test scores because English is not taught until fifth grade.
Emilia Kaawa said she used to feel embarrassed writing and reading in English, but "she got over it" and even got better.
She switched to Kailua High School in her junior year because she wanted to see if she could keep up in an English school.
"I thought I would do really bad, but I got better grades, even in English, than my friends that went to regular schools all their life," she said.
She was happy to return to her "family" at Kamakau, satisfied she could handle an English school, she said.
Naber shakes his head, remembering that at kindergarten he wanted to quit immersion. After he caught on to the language, he wanted to stay and caught the bus every day for two years from Kahaluu to Palolo to go to Kula Kaiapuni o Anuenue.
"I love it -- I enjoy speaking the language," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, I just love it."
Naber looks forward to attending Kapiolani Community College to study culinary arts. He wants to be a pastry chef, perhaps one day opening his own restaurant all in Hawaiian or returning to Kamakau to teach cooking classes.
Emilia Kaawa plans to use her passion for math to pursue a business degree and will attend Windward Community College in the fall.
