Compassionate Koʻolau

At Compassionate Koʻolau, we strive to grow an island of support.

We support Windward District schools, families, and the community in becoming more resilient and connected through trauma-informed and restorative practices grounded in ʻike Hawaiʻi and ʻike kupuna.

What's New at Compassionate Koʻolau

Nature as a Resource for Connection and Well-Being Workshops

with Kelsey Matsu & Kate Righter

This professional development offering was designed for school counselors and other social and behavioral support staff interested in exploring nature as a resource for connection and well-being. Kate Righter, a nature journalist and educator, taught us techniques for nature journaling as a way of observing, noticing, and capturing the world around us in pictures and words. Kelsey Matsu integrated a reflective expressive arts activity, helping participants to slow down, focus on the mystery of life through nature, and connect to inner feelings and reflections. Participants were able to engage with their own nature journaling practice and also reflected individually and collaboratively how nature can be a resource for themselves and their students. We held our first workshop in September at K&K Farms in Lāʻie for our Castle-Kahuku Complex Area folks and a second workshop for Kailua-Kalāheo Complex Area at Hāmākua Marsh with Healthy Climate Communities in Kailua.

We were able to kilo a number of native birds including aeʻo and ʻalae ʻula. Kate taught us simple techniques to draw birds that even "non-artists" could easily use!

At Healthy Climate Communities, we learned about some of the native plants that they are propagating in order to re-establish our native forests in Hawaiʻi as a way to address climate change. We also learned about threats to our native plants such as Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle which attack plants like the Loulu Plam.

K&K Huli Bank

K&K Farms, run by Uncle Pane Meatoga (and named after Uncle Pane's grandparents) and Uncle Steve Kunz, is home to an amazing huli bank of 120 varieties of kalo, including 60 of 70 Hawaiian varieties. Uncle Steve taught us how to kilo the different varieties of kalo. There are over 30 different ways to identify kalo!

We looked at colors of the stem (HĀ), leaf shapes and colors, how the kalo grows and how the stems branch out. Kate gave us different strategies for capturing what we observed both up close and from a distance, and we were able to build pilina with one kalo plant.

Mauliola ʻŌpio Koʻolau at Liliʻuokalani Center for Kailua High & WEIS

Mahalo to the staff at Liliʻuokalani Center for welcoming our haumāna from Hālau Hekili, Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Kailua and Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Waimānalo on September 15 for a day of restorative practices. Students were able to tour the new center in the heart of Honolulu and experience yoga, mele Hawaiʻi, ʻai pono, and get a sample of what LC has to offer our ʻōpio!

Opening of the 2026-27 School Year

New Teacher Orientation at Luluku Farm July 20, 2026

We partnered with the Windward Induction & Mentoring Team to kick off the new school year with pilina building for our new Windward District teachers at Luluku Farm with ʻĀina Aloha o Nā Lima Hana.

Mahalo to Uncle Mark & Kumu Linahla for hosting us and teaching us about how you are restoring our community through growing our ancestral foods, providing opportunities for us to mālama ʻāina, and reminding us that a strong family and strong community provide us with a solid foundation.

Kainalu Elementary Staff Pilina Day at Papahana Kuaola

We led a Soundmapping Activity and Mahina & Medicine (Lāʻau Lapaʻau) Activity for our Kainalu staff on their Pilina Day on August 3, 2026.

Summer 2026 Highlights

Connecting with ʻĀina Partners in Koʻolau

We often get asked about community partners and ʻāina organizations that schools can connect with for staff and/or student huakaʻi and culture-based lessons in schools. We were able to visit several ʻāina sites this summer and meet the partners in person who are working with our schools and community. Check out the Partners Page of our website for links to many of the ʻāina sites that serve Koʻolau. Some of our partners may not have a website so you can email us if you have questions about an ʻāina site that is not listed.

K&K Farms in Lāʻie

Uncle Pane, Uncle Steve & Uncle Ambrose are keeping kalo & culture alive at K&K Farms in Lāʻie. They work with all ages from keiki to kūpuna!

Waimea Valley Education Programs

Kaila Alva, Cultural Education Coordinator for Nā Wai ʻUla Waimea Valley Education Programs led us on an Educators tour along with her team.

Waimea Valley is an amazing resource on the North Shore! They are not just a tourist destination. They offer culture-based lessons that are standards-aligned for grades K-12, and specialize in ahupuaʻa and makahiki. Their fees for students are very reasonable and they also offer visits to schools that may not be able to afford transportation.

Educational Leadership Institute 2026 - Superintendent's Annual Conference for Educational Officers at Kualoa Ranch/Koʻolau ʻĀina Sites

Superintendent Keith Hayashi with support from the Office of Hawaiian Education kicked off our school year for school, district and state administrators with a unique experience--huakaʻi across our Ko'olau ʻāina sites. This experience breathed life into the vision of Neʻepapa: Rooted in Aloha, Driven by Purpose. Cherilyn was fortunate to serve as a kaʻi (support) for the group going to He Hawaiʻi Au Farms in Waiāhole, run by Hanale Bishop, a kalo farmer and owner of Homestead Poi. The day started at Kualoa Ranch and then each group took a bus to their selected huakaʻi. At He Hawaiʻi Au, our group started with an ALOHA circle, followed by Hanale sharing about his farm, then weeding loʻi and eating a farm-to-table lunch, even getting to kuʻi kalo that was grown on the farm.

KK Alakaʻi Academy Hui Up June 2026

Our Kailua-Kalāheo Principals and District Administrators reconnected with the Ka Hale Hoaka team in early June, revisiting the commitments and learning from our Alakaʻi Academy on Molokaʻi in August 2025. In line with our theme of Kiaʻi Loko Iʻa, we met at Paepae o Heʻeia, did hana, reflected on the past year and also made new commitments to be culturally-grounded HĀ-ful leaders in the upcoming school year.

Mahalo to the Paepae team - Hiʻilei Kawelo and Keliʻi Kotubetey for hosting us, and to Ka Hale Hoaka (Maile Naehu, Hanohano Naehu, and Imaikalani Winchester) for continuing to support our growth and learning as leaders.

Ulu Aʻe Transitions Project

We are happy to share that we are continuing our partnership this year with Ulu Aʻe Transitions Project. Tammy Tom, Niki Gosiaco, Sheanae Tam, and Beau Uehara provide many of our Windward schools with direct support with implementing culture-based and ʻāina-based learning, HĀ, and SEL to strengthen pilina amongst students and staff, as well as with tech integration in the classroom. Ulu Aʻe also assists us with funding schoolwide and class projects, field trips, and resources aligned with our work at Compassionate Koʻolau. Mahalo to Tammy & the team for your ongoing support!

SEL Support for Schools

Need support with SEL? Contact us! We can work with you to find a social-emotional learning curriculum and/or resources to fit the needs of your students.

RiseHI Collective was founded by local filmmaker Gabe Amey. Make IT Happen focuses on SEL, GLO, and life skills and ʻOihana Career Explorations focuses on career readiness. Both are secondary level video-based curricula featuring stories of kamaʻāina with student workbooks. We were able to purchase Make IT Happen subscriptions and workbooks from RiseHI Collective for Olomana School.
We attended Kimochis Training in September 2025 and have a Kimochis supply kit if elementary counselors or teachers want to try the program with your students.
Education Incubator also can offer support with Wayfinder for middle school students or Foundations of Aloha (appropriate for K-12).

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