Ke Kula ʻO Piʻilani

This grant will provide emergency relief in flood recovery efforts for Hawaiian partners.

First Nations will be hosting a series of four (4) virtual technical assistance sessions covering the Native Farm to School Program Planner. During the session the Consulting Program Partners will have support in developing their program plan. A completed Native Farm to School Program plan will be submitted to First Nations by the end of the project period

Gen ops

Program Opportunity Statement (Recommended 300 words or less) Kahua Imua translates into two equally important meanings - fortifying a strong foundation and embracing the potential of future generations. We believe a strong foundation begins with family lifestyles, a commitment from parents and grandparents to prioritize Hawaiian culture and language in the home, and a confidence in cultural identity that extends beyond the conventions of our modern, urban lives. After generations of oppression, there needs to be a conscious and powerful shift in the way we raise and educate our children, the true wealth of all cultures. As children grow their resource base and skill, they become the powerful foundation which we need to progress our nation. Kahua Imua equips families with the knowledge, resources, and tools to re-prioritize Hawaiian culture and language in the home.

Ke Kula ʻO Piʻilani is an independent Hawaiian culture and language immersion school in ʻĪao Valley that has provided academic rigor in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi from a Hawaiian perspective since 2016. Our vision is an enriched modern education with engaged communities and nurtured families fluent in Hawaiian wisdom, knowledge, and language. We serve elementary school youth as well as families from around Maui Island.

We will more effectively teach a greater number of students and alleviate personnel shortages by restructuring our existing team of teachers to empower them to focus on specific subjects while being united under a common curriculum under which they will develop lesson plans that unify the school’s learning.

This project will create a village of speakers around our children by delivering curriculum for parents, caregivers, and community members that runs laterally with what the students and learning in school; and by creating an online community to increase the acquisition, fluency, and utilization of Hawaiian language outside of school.

The project will help retain the spiritual and physical connection between Native Hawaiians and taro through a series of family based workshops that will give participants the skills, knowledge and tools to grow taro and prepare poi.