Aug. 7, 2015

Contributed by Pakalani Bello

The transition from elementary to middle school can be a tough one for preteen students. But with an influx of new students, hailing from cities across the state, entering the seventh grade can be extra intimidating at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

To help this transition, the KSK Middle School staff put together “Ka Ulu Aloha,” a series of three-day residential orientations for incoming seventh grade haumāna. Split into four different sessions, from July 19 through August 1, students moved into the middle school dorms for three jam-packed days of learning about life on their new campus.

Meaning “to inspire with love,” Ka Ulu Aloha strengthens Native Hawaiian identity and improves the educational system in the middle school, where 55 percent of seventh graders are new invitees to KS.

“Ka Ulu Aloha has brought our kula waena (middle school) vision of nurturing student voices to life,” said Ka Ulu Aloha program director Nozomi Ozaki. “It has helped our incoming seventh graders to make a connection and see their role in making our kaiāulu a healthy, happy and thriving place.”

Incoming boarding students were flown in the day before each session began, affording them an extra night to learn their new surroundings. The first day began with a gathering at the piko (spiritual center) of the middle school, giving the students a foundational understanding of the campus.

After allowing time for the O‘ahu students to move into the dorms, the group utilized Keawe Gym for icebreaker activities to get to know their new classmates. A tour of the campus, their first lunch at Kalama Dining Hall and some recreational time followed before the students jumped into activities to learn about their new campus.

Two of the main Hawaiian cultural activities were trips to Keanakamanō (the native garden at the Kapālama campus entrance) and the schools’ Ka‘iwakīloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center, to learn from KS cultural specialists.

During the session at Keanakamanō, students got a tour of the garden, played Hawaiian games, and gained a sense of place in the ahupua‘a of Kapālama. Up at Ka‘iwakīloumoku, the students learned to make kāhili and worked in the garden below the building.

Back on the middle school campus, the students studied the names of the buildings and the mo‘olelo and characteristics of the people they were named after. They also gained an understanding of the pahu, the metaphoric representation of the middle school’s vision to “nurture student voices.”

Throughout the three days, students also were issued their school laptops, learned to balance study skills and work habits, wrote letters to their future selves, and had time to launa with their classmates, with activities ranging from making s’mores to slip-n-slide.

At the end of each session, the group returned to the piko for a panina, where ‘ohana were invited to join their keiki to see what they had learned. After sharing oli and stories from their three-day journey, the students returned home for the final weeks of summer leading to the start of their 2015-16 school year on August 11. 

Photos by KS Photographer Michael Young.