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The majority of my 7th-grade students belong to military families. Due to this, my students are accustomed to moving from place to place frequently. While this life provides my students with the opportunity to live in different places, it simultaneously reduces their opportunity to build a sense of belonging and connection to those places. To address this challenge for my students and their families, I researched place-based learning opportunities and resources available on Oahu. During my research, I connected with the Cultural Program Coordinator at Waimea Valley, a preserved cultural site on the North Shore of Oahu. He provided me with the resources I needed to evaluate place-based learning opportunities for my students and choose one that aligned with our growth-learning outcome standards (collaboration skills, sportsmanship, critical thinking skills, etc.) at Wheeler Middle School. I then planned a lesson for my students, created reflection assignments for my students, and encouraged families to take advantage of the resources from Waimea Valley to better inform themselves on ancient Hawaiian cultural traditions that exist here on the island.
I first conducted research on educational programs available at different cultural sites on Oahu. Next, I reached out and gathered resources from the cultural programs coordinator at Waimea Valley and spoke with administrators at Wheeler Middle School to understand the logistics and plan for the trip. Next, I collaborated with Waimea Valley to design a lesson plan for field trip day at Waimea Valley and invited parents to attend the trip as chaperones. When field trip day finally arrived, I delivered the lesson on-site and gathered student reflections on the lesson when we returned to school that day.
This was an outside opportunity for my students because most of my students had visited cultural sites in Hawaii nor had they traveled outside of Schofield, the military base of which they belong. The trip was an amazing success. My students wrote what they learned about Hawaiian culture after the experience.
Research & Takeaways
Research & Takeaways
After identifying the problem that my students felt no connection or understanding of Hawaiian culture, I started researching educational programs offered at Waimea Valley.
After watching the video (bottom left) and reading about the educational programs available on their website (link below), I felt confident Waimea Valley could offer my students with age-appropriate activities that would be both informative and engaging.
Click here to visit the Waimea Valley website!
The most important takeaways from my research were:
If my students do not learn the importance of cultural chants or rites of passage, they may never know how to respectfully and appropriately enter a sacred space in Hawaii.
If my students do not learn basic Hawaiian language and phrases, they may have trouble communicating with locals on the island.
Participating in an educational program at Waimea Valley would be culturally informative and beneficial for relationship-building for my students.
Educational programs at Waimea Valley contain learning objectives that align well with our growth-learning outcomes at Wheeler Middle School.
Waimea Valley offers educational programs at an affordable price of $5 per student and can accommodate for 80 students at a time in the current pandemic.
Program Outreach
Program Outreach
Waimea Valley School Programs Description-Revised 6272013.docSchool Program Confirmation Letter r (2).pdfAfter deciding to pursue a field trip for my students at Waimea Valley, I contacted the cultural program coordinator at Waimea Valley via email. He replied with a list of questions and I proceeded to reply with all the information he needed to book a reservation for both of my classes of students (50 students total). He then provided me with a list of the guided school programs offered at Waimea Valley.
After further discussing the options with the cultural programs coordinator on the phone, I decided my students would most benefit from the Nā Pā‘ani Kahiko: Ancient Hawaiian Games - Grades K-12 option because it provides my students with hands-on learning that is both culturally grounding, informative, and revolves around their ability to work as a team. I have been emphasizing the importance of collaboration the entire year, so I see this experience as one that takes them outside the classroom and tests their ability to unite in a new environment, as well as learn about Hawaiian culture. My students would otherwise not have opportunities to collaborate and learn at a cultural site in Hawaii without this experience.
Finally, Waimea Valley sent me a booking reservation for our trip with additional rules and requirements for students on field trip day.
Parent Communication
Parent Communication
Parent Letter.pdfI created and sent this letter to parents for the field trip so they were informed about the program their students were participating in as well as what students were responsible for bringing.
Parent Authorization for Travel (WV Rosadino_Kelly) (1) (2).pdfI created and sent this permission form home with students so parents could sign and return with $11 cash ($5 entrance fee + $6 bus fee). I then collected all the cash from students and started arranging bus transportation for the trip.
Transportation Arrangement
Transportation Arrangement
I communicated with the office staff at Wheeler Middle School about reserving a bus for the field trip and they were able to connect me with a bus company in this email chain above.
Wheeler Middle (Jonathan) confirm 11.12.21.pdfAfter calling the bus company and sending in a booking request form, I received this booking confirmation from the bus company with a purchase order number that I provided to the office staff so they could process the purchase order and write me a check.
Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
Agenda.pdfFor the next step of the process, I worked with Budde to design a lesson plan with four different activities, a list of key concepts, and a list of learning objectives. I sent the lesson plan to both students and their families in an effort to raise awareness about the educational mission of the experience.
The main learning objectives consisted of the following: gain a better understanding of the cultural significance of Hale O Lono (shown below), participate in traditional Hawaiian games, and practice collaboration skills and sportsmanship (a growth-learning outcome assessed by our school-wide curriculum).
Field Trip Day
Field Trip Day
Students on the bus to Waimea Valley!
Students listening to Waimea Valley tour guide as she explains the cultural significance of Hale O Lono.
Hale O Lono Temple
Students standing in front of the framework of an ancient shelter.
Students listening as a Waimea Valley guide explains how to play ‘ulu maika (stone disc) and moa pahe‘e.
Students learn and participate in pūhenehene (finding a pebble on a person by reading their opponent’s body language to determine the location of the pebble.
Students were able to read the description of the history of this sacred temple.
An offering table in front of the Hale O Lono temple
A student plays moa pahe‘e.
A student learns and plays Hawaiian checkers.
Students listen as the Waimea Valley guide discusses the Makahiki festival: a celebration of farming and Lono, the Hawaiian deity, who is associated with agriculture, peace, and rain.
What an awesome experience!
Reflection
Reflection
Student #1 Reflection
Student #2 Reflection
The last step of the process was reflection. When we finally returned to our classroom after the trip, I distributed Google form surveys to each student so they could reflect on what they learned during the program. As indicated by Student #1, the first learning objective (Have a better appreciation and understanding of traditional activities in ancient Hawai‘i) was met when the student mentioned that they "appreciated the respect" demonstrated by visitors in someone's home in native Hawaiian culture. Student #2 also appreciated the cultural belief in different deities and their different associations to the winter and summer seasons.
This outside experience not only provided cultural exposure and place-based learning to my students, but it also gave them learning activities with questions about the culture around them to reflect on.
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