Kauluhala Summer Academy is our designed space for summer learning and discovery through incredible offerings of academic and rigorous opportunities to ignite and grow passion for students entering grades 6-8. Using their knowledge and skills, ‘ōiwi learners are guided and empowered to access, explore and apply ancestral and modern perspectives and practices to the impacts of today affecting kanaka, kaiaulu, ‘āina and the world.
Grades 6-8 learners will register for courses by weeks of participation during the application and registration period. All classrooms will be multi-age classrooms and grade levels correspond to the grade haumāna will be entering in the next school year, 2025-2026. All kula waena courses are full-day, week long courses and will run Thursday, June 12 to Thursday, July 10, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. daily.
Middle School Program (Grades 6-8):
Two Week Sessions
Week 1: 06/10-06/24
Week 2: 06/25-07/09
One Week Sessions
Week 1: 06/10-06/17
Week 2: 06/18-06/24
Week 3: 06/25-07/01
Week 4: 07/02-07/09
COURSE MENU FOR KULA WAENA
TWO WEEK SESSIONS
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6036F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
Ready to become a meaʻai master? In this course, you’ll learn to cook like a pro and discover where our food really comes from. Designed to be outdoors and on ʻāina, you will roll up your sleeves and venture out to witness how food is grown. From mauka to makai, you’ll explore unique farming techniques and learn why taking care of our ʻāina is important to having a sustainable future. From farm to table, you will then turn fresh, local ingredients into amazing dishes that’ll catch you by surprise as you become that true meaʻai master. A master who not only knows how to make delicious food but more importantly having the ʻike to care for the ‘āina that feeds us.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6066F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
Ever wonder how influencers blow up online? In this course, you’ll unlock the secrets of viral social media strategies - but with a twist: you’ll use your skills to promote something that matters. Learn how to create content that grabs attention and inspires action for a service, product, or solution that solves real problems and empowers the lāhui. From trending tactics to mo'olelo that connects, you’ll walk away ready to make an impact online and in your community. Your voice, your idea, your movement … Going Viral!
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6052F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
E holoholo kākou, come travel with us as we toggle through time with the momi of our kupuna through moʻolelo. Here haumāna will gain insights into the cultural, historical, and environmental significance of our ʻāina as they further explore their own personal connections to this rooted place we call home. Enhanced with huakaʻi, haumāna will learn the values, beliefs, traditions and experiences of our people as they uncover lessons of kauhale, resilience, and the profound pilina to ʻāina that shapes our ʻōiwi identity and continues to grow with us. With no time to lose, hele mai e nā kamaliʻi, discover to embrace for your now as you shape and preserve for the future.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6014F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
Become a published author in just two weeks! This dynamic course is designed for middle school writers eager to enact their personal agency, explore their voice, imagination, and craft through daily mini-lessons, playful challenges, and supportive peer workshops. Writers will create poetry, short fiction, dialogue, and personal reflections, all while adding powerful and persuasive writing techniques. Publish your legacy in a personal chapbook—a collection of your moʻolelo to hoʻolili a ili.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6067F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
Step into the world of ʻōiwi entrepreneurship in this upbeat, hands-on course! Together with your classmates, you’ll explore how to recognize needs in your own kaiaulu, manage resources wisely, and plan simple budgets that support your ideas. You’ll design and create products inspired by Hawaiian culture, values, and place, then prepare to share them at a real pop-up mākeke. Throughout the course, you’ll practice teamwork, problem-solving, and kuleana as you learn what it takes to responsibly promote and sell items in ways that uplift your community. You’ll also get the chance to build your own market stall, develop your brand story, and discover how local businesses help meet the needs and wants of our lāhui. Come ready to imagine, build, and share knowing your creative ideas have the power to make a real impact!
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6065F
Weeks 1-2: June 10 – June 24
Weeks 3-4: June 25 – July 09
Join us for two weeks of learning and action rooted in aloha ʻāina! Through hands-on projects, huakaʻi, and creative challenges, students will discover how mālama ʻāina and reducing waste can strengthen our lāhui and protect Hawaiʻi’s natural treasures. From ecology adventures to upcycling projects, you’ll uncover how everyday choices shape the ʻāina and come to learn simple, powerful ways to create positive change. Together we’ll turn ideas into action and build a future where Hawaiʻi thrives. Your voice. Your kuleana. Your impact.
ONE WEEK SESSIONS
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6031F
Week 3: June 25 – July 01
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
Love being outdoors? Want to learn how to grow food AND make a difference in your community? This one-week course is your chance to get your hands into the ʻāina and connect with your roots in true mala style. You’ll learn how your kūpuna connected to the ʻāina through the exploration of moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy) and discover how values like mālama ʻāina and kuleana contribute to becoming responsible stewards of the ʻāina which richly sustains us. Down and dirty, bring it on! Let’s embark on this sustainable adventure through the eyes of kūpuna and kiaʻi ʻāina ensuring that what we have today will be here tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow for the health, the benefit, and the pono of our lāhui.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6063F
Week 2: June 18 – June 24
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
An opportunity to rule the podium … Game On! In this debate course, students will learn how to turn facts into firepower and arguments into victories. This one-week course dives into the art of persuasion, teaching you how to research like a pro, think on your feet, and deliver knockout points with confidence. By the end of the week, you and your team will face off in a high-energy debate showdown - where logic, strategy, and a little swagger decide the winner!
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6061F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 2: June 18 – June 24
Week 3: June 25 – July 01
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
What do Bethany Hamilton, Stephen Curry, Clayton Kershaw, Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes, and Cristiano Ronaldo have in common? "Top" professional athletes, and devoted Christians with a heart and faith in God. Through their shared passion for athletics and faith, their lives have dramatically changed, not just for themselves but for those they inspire. This course will give a glimpse into the life of an athlete driven by faith to "inspire and perspire". Raise your kanaka bar spiritually, athletically, and through modeled leadership as YOU do YOU, growing your “Faith in Action!”
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6041F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 2: June 18 – June 24
Week 3: June 25 – July 01
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
Calling all future marine enthusiasts! Have you ever dreamed of becoming a marine biologist exploring the fascinating world in our waters? Dive into this exciting realm of marine biology and explore Kumuola’s loko i‘a for an unforgettable experience where you'll discover the secrets of our native fishponds. Embark on a journey where you'll learn the cool techniques that real-life biologists use - snorkeling, conducting fish surveys, tagging fish, and even studying the diets of our amazing native fish. Become that guardian of our native fishponds as you contribute to the preservation of our underwater wonders while playing a vital role in protecting our loko i‘a.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6062F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 3: June 25 – July 01
Ready to level up and get your point across effectively? In this powered up communication course you’ll learn how to command attention, speak with clarity, and connect with any audience - building skills that make you shine in school, on stage, and beyond. Through fun challenges, games, and real-world practice you’ll transform nerves into confidence and turn ideas into impact speaking to YOUR style - bold, creative, and unforgettable. Your voice matters - Leo Up!
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6051F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 2: June 18 – June 24
Week 3: June 25 – July 01
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
A lifetime experience for you! Come sail with us on a double hull waʻa giving you an introduction to voyaging life from the expert seafarers themselves. With an overview of history to our vibrant canoe culture, haumāna will sharpen their tools of navigating knowledge, water safety skills, land resourcing access, and learn what it takes to become a contemporary crew member on a coastal sailing waʻa. Grounded in ancestral skills and knowledge, this transformative experience will open a whole new world of discovery and aloha kai that stretches far beyond our shorelines giving life, perhaps, to a newfound passion.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6064F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 2: June 18 – June 24
Get ready to ride with purpose! In Ocean Emotion, students dive into the world of bodyboarding while exploring what makes each surf spot unique. From shore break to reef, haumāna learn how the ocean works, its health, meet community members who protect it, and discover how their own actions and feelings make waves. Through fun challenges, filming sessions, and real-time reflection, students sharpen their skills and uncover how stoke and stewardship go body to board.
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6050F
Week 1: June 10 – June 17
Week 4: July 02 – July 09
Explore the beauty and power of Hawaiʻi’s ʻāina as we journey to different spaces and places while deepening our connection to our self and honua. Through oli (chant), hei (string figure), and huakaʻi we will discover how our relationship and connections with ʻāina strengthens our mauli ola – our health, balance, and well-being. The power and growth of our kanaka identity through these realized connections will naturally give rise to purpose for ones pono being grounded while moving forward – paʻa ka moku!
Grade Level: 6, 7, 8 (multi-age)
Course #: HS6048F
Weeks 2: June 18 – July 24
Weeks 3: June 25 – July 01
Pihaʻā moe wai uka - like the stones that lie in the upland water, referring to experts in strenuous sports, this fun and dynamic course combines the best of two exciting outdoor sports: Ultimate Frisbee and Golf challenging you to put forth your best Ultimate Kanaka. Connecting to one's space and place, this class emphasizes physical fitness, teamwork, and mastering simplified equipment with ease. Haumāna will learn how to play and create strategies to perfect their ability in both sports while improving their strength, coordination, endurance, and ultimately, their kanaka wellness.