Education

Financial Problems at Hawaii Pacific University

Hawaii Pacific University is suffering financial problems that have prompted layoffs of more than 100 faculty and staff, and major cuts in the scholarships that for decades have encouraged local students to attend the state’s largest private university. Meanwhile, the…

Ulukau Serves Many Roles

The home page of www.ulukau.org has few words in English, but a click on “English Text” reveals this translation: Ulukau: “In the same way that unexplained supernatural interpretive powers can be divinely given to a person, so knowledge and understanding can…

Training the Workers of Tomorrow

Did you get all the way through high school and college without actually learning about a potential career and test driving it? Did your college courses have little connection with what you learned in high school? If you answered yes…

Not Your Parents' College Degrees

The world will always need people trained in traditional fields such as education, medicine and law. But many college students today are looking to emerging fields where the number of jobs are growing, not shrinking, or careers that seem more…

Raising Funds for Hokulea's Worldwide Voyage

PHOTOS BY MONTE COSTA   “Raising funds in today’s economy is no easy task,” says Clyde Namuo, CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Neither is travelling around the world in a traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe, but the voyaging society is simultaneously…

A Night of Star Gazing

If you love looking at the stars in the night sky, but want a better view than you get from your backyard, you might consider renting a Mauna Kea observatory for a night. There are 11 observatories perched above the…

A New Era for Chaminade University

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK ARBEIT   One of the things that sets Chaminade University apart is its emphasis on community service. If you want to see how that plays out, tag along with Joan Riggs’ students in the environmental and interior design program.…

Ninja Skills

Adult’s definition of parkour: a noncompetitive sport that builds coordination, strength, patience and discipline, while emphasizing safety, community and creativity. Kid’s definition of parkour: ninja skills and Spiderman training. Parkour, which originated less than a generation ago in the immigrant-rich suburbs outside of Paris,…

Exceptional Family Outings

The Art of Learning Back when it was The Contemporary Museum, it was an idiosyncratic destination in the hills above Honolulu, a place where you could walk the gardens, grab lunch in the cafe and see intriguing contemporary art that…

5 Great Edu-Apps

Interactive Alphabet What’s Learned? Letters Description: Hawaii-connected app-maker Piikea Street won instant recognition for Interactive Alphabet, which charms your littlest technophile through the early stages of literacy with easy, interactive play. Latest versions offer lower-, upper- and mixed-case letters and…

Two Versions of Educational Reality

Inside this issue, we explain how public school teachers, principals and administrators are evaluated and held accountable for their on-the-job performance. You already know that students are held accountable every time they hand in an assignment for grading or take…

Report Card: School Administrators

Are sweeping changes in Department of Education’s leadership enough to fix Hawaii’s schools? New three-part strategy emphasizes student achievement first, followed by improved support and IT systems, and better training/accountability/HR. Don Horner, chair of the two-year-old, appointed Board of Education,…

Report Card: DOE Principals

The most important person at a school is evaluated yearly on test scores, creating a good “school culture” and other factors Principals say success depends on building a strong team and creating support within the community Every day at Iroquois…