FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Four new computer labs are opening at Radford High School thanks to a military-state partnership. Student David Sproule tests out the equipment in teacher Joan Loo's class.
4 new computer labs
open at Radford HighThey are the result of a military-state
partnership to help public schools
Sunlight streamed through the windows as 16-year-old Krista Gibbons and her classmates at Radford High School settled into their adjustable, upholstered chairs and clicked on their gleaming, matching computers.
"We're all in awe," whispered their teacher, Joan Loo. "It's so new. We're just so grateful."
The computer lab is just one of four opening at Radford this fall -- a gift from a military-state partnership that has funneled $20 million in Defense Department funds to Hawaii's public schools over the past four years.
"They didn't just give us computers," marveled Principal Robert Stevens, his arm sweeping from the plasma television screen on the wall to the teacher's electronic podium. "They went all out. They gave us new furniture, desks, windows, air conditioning."
The Joint Venture Education Forum, a partnership between the U.S. Pacific Command and the state Department of Education, was created in 1999 to encourage military participation in Hawaii's public schools and help ensure that local schools meet the needs of military children.
Since then it has spent $5 million annually to repair Hawaii schools, install playgrounds and buy textbooks and technology -- money appropriated by Congress at the behest of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. And it has marshaled tens of thousands of hours of volunteer labor.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Student Jennifer Do works at another computer in the lab.
Today, school and military officials headed to Hickam Air Force Base to mark the joint venture's accomplishments at its annual meeting.
"Our men and women in uniform make many sacrifices, so we owe their children the very best educational opportunities that we can provide," said Col. Edward Patrick, director of manpower, personnel and administration for the U.S. Pacific Command. "This is a way we can be good neighbors and benefit not just our children, but the children of our civilian counterparts as well."
The partnership honed in on school facilities, textbooks and technology because those were problem areas cited by military families surveyed about Hawaii's public schools. Radford, Aliamanu Middle School and Red Hill Elementary got computer labs as part of a pilot program.
"I'm excited this year because we actually get these computers that work fast," said Gibbons, a junior. "Our old computers were really slow. I was shocked when I moved to Hawaii because the schools didn't have high tech."
The joint venture is now funding mobile computer labs, with laptops on carts, in hopes of reaching more schools. In all, 26 schools received textbook funds, and 30 got technology money in the 2003 fiscal year, with priority given to schools with military dependents.
With Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base in its back yard, 61 percent of Radford's 1,500 students are in military families. The school is in a constant state of flux, with a third of its students leaving during the course of each school year, only to be replaced by newcomers.
To help the new arrivals, the school opened a Transition Center three weeks ago that matches each newcomer with a student sponsor who has similar interests and can act as a buddy. The sponsors also teach the incoming students six classes designed to introduce them to the school, help them adapt to Hawaii and handle the stress of change.
Stevens wants to make sure Radford's partnership with the military is a two-way street and that his school meets the academic and social needs of its military population.
"The military," he said, "has been a godsend for us."
