Embedded Files
DA 200 Sensory Classroom
DA 200 Sensory Classroom
An upcoming project will bring an integrated sensory classroom to DA 200. Progress so far includes the featured He Loa Ke Aho collaborative artwork piece: Kiʻowai (A Space of Abundance).
Featured Artwork
Featured Artwork
Created alongside students, faculty, staff, and a local artist, the He Loa Ke Aho collaborative artwork pieces visually reflect the ʻike (knowledge), pilina (relationships), and experiences cultivated across three cohorts of our Native Hawaiian Student Support Programs: Summer 2025 Paʻapono, Fall 2025 Hoʻopūnana, and Summer 2026 Paʻapono. Each piece carries the collective manaʻo (intentions) of its participants and their stories contribute to the spaces of Leeward Community College. When you have the opportunity to spend time with each piece, we invite you to consider: What do we inherit and carry forward? How do we genuinely mālama one another? Is the space I reside in better than how I found it, so others can flourish? We hope you take the time to seek out each piece, engage with its moʻolelo, and reflect on the manaʻo it carries.
Kiʻowai
Kiʻowai
Kiʻowai (A Space of Abundance) was collaboratively created by lead artist, Gillian Dueñas, alongside student and employee participants of the Summer 2026 Paʻapono Internship Program. This beautiful piece is located in DA-200 at Leeward Community College. Its name comes from a line within Leeward CC's oli (chant)- “He kiʻowai lua, he muliwai no ʻEwa. An abundant, overflowing estuary for ʻEwa.” The mural draws upon the abundance of wai (water) and the many moʻolelo (stories) held within the waters of ʻEwa and Puʻuloa. From the famous pipi (oysters) and loko iʻa (fishpond), to Kaʻahupāhau and her brother Kahiʻukā as guardians of the place. Together, these stories remind us of the life, knowledge, and relationships that can flourish when ʻāina is abundant.
Kiʻowai also draws upon the practice of loko iʻa as a metaphor for our haumāna (students). Like young pua (another reference for baby fish) nurtured within protected waters until they are ready to enter a larger loko iʻa, students need spaces where they can be nourished, challenged, and given what they need to grow. Leeward Community College becomes a kiʻowai for our students. A place where knowledge, relationships, experiences, and skills can nurture their growth until they are ready to move confidently into larger waters. Through this metaphor, Kiʻowai asks us to consider not only how students grow, but what kind of environment we create for that growth to occur.
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