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

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.

Expressive Arts for Staff Wellness at Pope Elementary

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.

Spring 2026 Highlights

ʻĀina Day at Nation of Hawaiʻi (Puʻuhonua O Waimānalo) with WEIS

On Friday, April 24, 2026, the 6th, 7th and 8th graders from Waimānalo Middle School spent the day at Nation of Hawaiʻi in Waimānalo engaging in mālama ʻāina to help restore the ahupuaʻa in their community. Students learned about uhau humu pōkahu (rock wall building), native plants, and loʻi kalo. This day was made possible with ʻĀina Aloha funding from the Office of Hawaiian Education, Mohala Na Pua, Purple Maiʻa Foundation, and Ulu Aʻe Transitions Project. Special mahalo to Manoa Sky for media (video and photos).

Lā ʻOhana Kūkanono 2026

Our Office of Hawaiian Education ʻĀina Aloha project for Castle-Kahuku Complex Area for school year 2025-26 was a Lā ʻOhana (Family Day) at Kūkanono, the ʻili ʻāina where Ulupō Heiau and Kawainui Fishpond are located. Compassionate Koʻolau partnered with Kauluakalana, the community organization that serves as the kiaʻi of this ʻāina to provide a fun day of aloha ʻāina and strengthening pilina for all ages. Kanaeokana and Hālau Hekili joined us to provide activities for our Windward ʻohana to strengthen ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi through kōnane and other games.

Mahalo to the incredible hardworking staff of Kauluakalana for facilitating this day for over 200 participants!

Mālama Muliwai HĀ Workshop with Heʻeia NERR

(National Estuarine Research Reserve)

Our friends at Heʻeia NERR put on an annual workshop with an ʻāina theme dedicated to wellness and ʻāina. The workshop supports HĀ and provides participants with an opportunity to learn, grow, engage in self-care activities, and also connect with each other an ʻāina. This year, we decided on the theme, "Mālama Muliwai" and held the workshop at the lower front part at Heʻeia State Park, which is next to the muliwai (estuary) adjacent to Heʻeia Fishpond. Funding for the workshop was provided by Castle-Kahuku Complex Area and the NERR Team (Fred Reppun and Pumehana Cabral) coordinated the workshop with us. We invited Windward District educators and community partners to attend.

Amy Sato from Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology and Kaiāulu ʻo Kahaluʻu opening the workshop for us with cultural protocol and explaining the importance of hau.

Amy also taught us how to strip hau branches to make cordage. The bark from hau needs to be soaked in the ocean water and a "slime" has to be cleaned from the strips of bark. After more soaking, the result is raffia-like strips that can be made into cordage/rope or even used to make lei.

Hiʻilei Kawelo and Rachelle Tom of Paepae o Heʻeia taught us the oli for Heʻeia Fishpond and Hiʻilei explained the inoa (names) and moʻolelo behind the oli.

Nawahine Lanzilotti, founder of Pulse Oceania, led a Music of Makaliʻi station where we used various instruments to show the path of the constellation Makaliʻi in the sky.

Hiʻilei caught some fish from the fishpond for a fish identification activity. Some of our teachers brought their children to the workshop and this was an especially popular station among the keiki!

Sheanae Tam, artist/farmer/community partner with Ulu Aʻe Transitions Project, taught us how to make art with nature using cyanotype paper. We found flowers, leaves, and branches in the area and placed them on the cyanotype paper in the sun to create an image in just 10-15 minutes!

Kelsey led a Soundmapping station where participants were given a kilo journal and invited to kilo (observe), paying close attention to the sounds that they could hear at Heʻeia State Park.

After their kilo, participants added drawings of the sounds they heard to a collective soundmap of Heʻeia.

A Journey through Our Waimānalo Ahupuaʻa with Guest Kumu Kimeona Kane

Waimānalo Elementary School PreK, Kindergarten and First Grade

In January 2026, Waimānalo Elementary PreK, Kindergarten and First Graders embarked on a semester-long journey through the Waimānalo ahupuaʻa to strengthen our understanding of wai and our kuleana to take care of wai and our community with guest Kumu Kimeona Kane. Students, teachers, and ʻohana were able to visit Muliwaiʻōlena and Puha Stream with Kumu Kimeona and learn the names and moʻolelo of our mountains and waters, practice kilo, harvest seeds, plant native plants, and also pick up trash and sift out plastic fragments from the sand.

Kumu Kimeona Kane & Aunty Tammy Smith at our ʻOhana Orientation. Aunty Tammy cooked ʻono Hawaiian food for all of our staff, students, and ʻohana who attended the orientation.

Students picking ʻohelo kai "berries" in the Native plant garden next to Muliwaiʻōlena. We planted these the next day at school and will return in April to hopefully plant the seedlings that sprout at school!

Kumu Kimeona leading our students, staff and mākua in protocol at Waimānalo Beach Park. Students have learned E Hō Mai at school and are able to practice this oli with Kumu Kimeona on ʻāina.

Our students were excited to plant naupaka kahakai clippings from outside the Waimānalo library with Kumu Kimeona. Students will mālama the clippings at school and they will be planted later on the shoreline at Waimānalo Beach Park.

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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