Kauai students tops
in tech contest

Their team is one of four that will
compete in the nation’s capital

Three Kauai eighth-graders teamed up to win a "huge" regional first prize in the U.S. Army's eCybermission contest, according to their teacher.

Kamakahele Middle School teacher Leah Aiwohi said students Kelan Adachi, Daniel Victor and Kelsey Gaetjens beat hundreds of other teams competing in the Southwest/Pacific region of the science and technology contest. (The 1,900 teams that entered this year's event were divided into four regions.)

ECybermission is a Web-based science, math and technology competition for sixth- through ninth-graders to apply their skills to solving community problems.

The Kauai students are known as the "F.I.R.E." team, which stands for "Flame Ignitions Ruin Everything." The team developed a Web site to educate the community about how to prevent fires in the home and be prepared in case of fire. (The site eventually will be available to the public.)

They won an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C., next Saturday to June 10.

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COURTESY PHOTO The "F.I.R.E." team, Kelan Adachi, left, adviser Leah Aiwohi, Daniel Victor and Kelsey Gaetjens, developed a Web site to educate the community about how to prevent fires in the home and be prepared in case of fire.

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The boys "developed a three-dimensional visualization application of a rendering of a house" to show potential fire hazards and what to do about them, Aiwohi said. "You can do a walk-through to different rooms in the house, so you're experiencing that virtually. ... It's very interactive."

It was "very time-intensive, collecting information," she said. They conducted a lot of interviews, especially with the Kauai Fire Department, and did surveys to gauge how effective the Web site was from November through February.

The boys, who said they knew almost nothing about computers when they started, were thrilled to be one of four teams in the nation to win.

"These are different kinds of kids," Aiwohi said, referring to the inner drive that makes her students work so hard on projects.

Each of the boys won $3,000 savings bond, which they will put aside for college, they said, and they will compete for a $5,000 savings bond apiece in Washington, D.C.

Since Aiwohi began teaching the advanced computer class in 1992, made up of an average of 25 to 30 students, Kamakahele has received national recognition for its video production and Web-based projects. Her students rebuilt Kauai County's Web site, covering 14 agencies, as the 2000-01 school year project, she said.

Her students were given the opportunity to access high-end computer equipment due to key support from Daniel Hamada, Kauai school district superintendent, who "made sure all Kauai public schools were adopted" by one of the many technology companies operating on the island, Aiwohi said.

Installation of the computer lab was funded by a partnership with the private sector, primarily the Kauai Economic Development Board, she said. The lab is maintained by private grants, Aiwohi added.