Kamehameha Schools' Ka Pua Initiative Hosts Wai'anae Coast Community Forums

Kamehameha Schools' Ka Pua Initiative is seeking community input to confirm and help design educational program offerings on the Wai'anae Coast. End Quote

Honolulu, HI (1888PressRelease) March 09, 2012 - Kamehameha Schools' Ka Pua Initiative is a long term commitment to excellent education, strong community, and a committed presence on the Wai'anae Coast. The vision is a healthy, vibrant Native Hawaiian community whose youth and families lead locally and globally, firmly grounded in knowing who they are and where they come from.

This month, the Ka Pua Initiative will host five open community forums to clarify and design the educational programs that have emerged as community priorities through many conversations over the past few years.

The Ka Pua Initiative is a collaborative endeavor between Kamehameha Schools, the Hawai'i State Department of Education (DOE) and a number of community organizations serving the coast. Interested community members will participate in activities to further confirm the programs and needs to support a learning community on the Wai'anae Coast.

Attendees will be asked to lend their voice and mana'o in a discussion on what kinds of programs and learning opportunities are important to their 'ohana. The forums will include conversations about the types of activities and the spaces needed to support efforts to get kids to school, keep them in school and engage them in learning.

"We hope to spark creative ideas that help us to understand what these programs look like, feel like and smell like through the eyes of the community," says Maile Keli'ipio-Acoba, a project manager for Kamehameha Schools' Ka Pua Initiative. "These forums will help to inform our work as we move toward the planning of programmatic focus and design for the Initiative."

By attending and contributing to this discussion, participants will help to inform Kamehameha Schools' education program plan for the Ka Pua Initiative and physical facility design of the Kamehameha Community Learning Centers on the Wai'anae Coast. This activity is part of an ongoing conversation about what needs to be in place so that every child on the Wai'anae Coast has the choice, vision and support to achieve post-secondary success.

The forums are open to the public and will take place on:

• Thursday, March 15th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Nānākuli High & Intermediate School cafeteria (dinner will be provided)
• Tuesday, March 20th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Kamehameha Schools Community Learning Center at Nānākuli
• Tuesday March 20th from 2:45 to 5 p.m. at the Kamehameha Schools Community Learning Center at Nānākuli
• Wednesday March 21st from 2:45 to 5 p.m. at the Wai'anae District Park multipurpose room
• Thursday, March 22nd from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wai'anae District Park multipurpose room (dinner will be provided)

"All sessions have the same format and agenda, so people only need to come to one in order to have the voices heard, and we are hopeful that folks can find a session that fits their schedule," mentions Keli'ipio-Acoba.

Dinner or light refreshments will be provided at each meeting. RSVPs are not required, but are requested for planning refreshments and materials. RSVP online at http://www.ksbe.edu/kapua/community or call 808-541-5333.

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