• What Hawai‘i children deserve

• Replace the tambolo

• Rewarding student project needs support

• Hello from the smallest state in the union

What Hawai‘i children deserve

I hope that those who read The Garden Island saw the “Leading Voices” columns Tuesday by Neil Abercrombie and Duke Aiona on education.

What a waste of newsprint! Flowery platitudes on Head Start were all that Neil could say and Duke was imbued with the strong emphasis on science which just doesn’t happen.

I must conclude that after reading the articles that neither has recently spent any time in a Hawai‘i classroom.

I have served as a volunteer tutor at Kaua‘i High School for three years. Our students are anxious to learn from textbooks that are all too difficult to understand. There are too few textbooks so the students only have use of the textbooks while in the classroom. And now the problem of education is compounded further by legislative and administrative follies capped by a furlough for the most important people in the schools, the teachers.

Certainly, regrets are noted by Aiona. Where was he when the negotiations took place?

Abercrombie never touched the current issues in Hawai‘i schools but he bantered on about the value of Head Start, which is meritorious, but nowhere near the problems to be addressed at a state level. And Neil, you want to be governor?

Neither gentleman appears to have a basic understanding as to what goes on in our schools. Our distinguished members of the House and Senate remain subdued but the burden of poor education falls directly on them. To ignore the amounts of money spent on various administrative departments in the Department of Education and subsequently kept out of classrooms would be too generous as much of the failure in education resides in our elected officials.

There is a direct correlation with time spent in the classroom and educational performance. The role of the teacher is an essential part of the process but so are the aspirations and determination of the students as well as the expectations of the family. If society places a low premium on the value of education, the system employed will reflect the anticipated outcome. If the tourist industry is the only impetus in the economy then the role of education is limited. That is the reality which Hawai‘i faces. How this issue is addressed in the future goes beyond people who are content with placing furloughs on valuable teachers or politicians whose words and ideas fall far short of what Hawai‘i children deserve.

Monroe Richman, Koloa

Replace the tambolo

As part time residents of Kaua‘i, my wife and I always enjoy it here. But there is one thing that we can’t understand.

Much of the underlying economy here is tourism and the center of tourism seems to be the South Shore. To a goodly portion of these tourists, swimming in the warm ocean waters is of prime importance. Yet the mecca for these swimmers is Po‘ipu Beach which seems to be closed sometimes.

People are disgusted and disappointed as a result of this situation. The reason for the closure is the tambolo is long gone. For those of you who do not know what a tambolo is I will explain.

The tambolo here is a narrow strip of sand connecting the beach with the tiny island 100 feet or so offshore. This tambolo in effect greatly reduces the normal current moving westerly, thus making it safer for snorkelers and swimmers.

I suggested to our island government that some of the sand be dredged from harbors from the Westside to replace our tambolo but to no avail. If the tambolo is not replaced I’m afraid tourism will eventually be affected.

John Miller, Koloa

Rewarding student project needs support

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this letter and the letters of my students. The project they are working on can be a tremendous success with your help and the help of your readers.

Let me take a minute to tell you about our school and students. Pawtucket, R.I., is an urban school district founded in the birth place of the mill industry with the first, water powered mill. Slater Mill is not more than a five minute walk from our school.

Like any urban school district, Pawtucket has its share of challenges. Roughly about 80 per cent of our students qualify for the free or reduced lunch program. However, Goff Junior High is the only high performing junior high school in the district. The students take an active interest in school and responsibility for their studies.

By publishing their letter and hopefully your reader’s response, they will be able to produce a written report, poster board and oral presentation.

Thank you for your time and help in providing a worthwhile and rewarding project for my students.

Brian Gilmore, 7th grade geography teacher, Goff Junior High School

Hello from the smallest state in the union

I am writing to say hello from the seventh grade students from Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union.

We are working on a geography class project in which we are responsible for an oral, written and poster project on a U.S. state. My report will be on Hawai‘i.

I am asking readers to send me ideas or opinions on what I might do for my project. Perhaps they might send me things like pictures or tourist information. I would really appreciate if your readers could mail it right to Goff Junior High School, 974 Newport Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02861.

Thank you for helping me with my report and project.

Paola Hernandez, 7th grade student, Goff Junior High School