WAILUA — The morning showers that sprinkled the group of 900 fifth-grade students was just the spice the students needed to break up the intense amount of information that lay before them during the Eighth Annual Agricultural & Environmental Awareness
WAILUA — The morning showers that sprinkled the group of 900 fifth-grade students was just the spice the students needed to break up the intense amount of information that lay before them during the Eighth Annual Agricultural & Environmental Awareness Day event held at the University of Hawai‘i Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center here Thursday.
Coordinated by officials with the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, UH Cooperative Extension Service and Kauai County Farm Bureau, the event saw students from the fifth grade in all of the schools on the island descend on the Wailua research facility, armed with questionnaires handed out to them upon arrival.
Thereafter, they set out to discover the world of agriculture and the environment.
Hands-on activity gave learning a new twist as students were treated to a dose of hydroponic gardening utilizing various household items, as well as being shown some of the products designed specifically for this type of gardening.
More hands-on activity had students entertained as they went through a resource-management program where a group of students representing various segments of community water-users huddled over a container of water to see how they could “balance” the needs of each segment.
Rodney Haraguchi of the Kauai Taro Growers Association had students discover the process of poi-making as they wielded stone pounders to turn cooked chunks of taro into the Hawaiian delicacy.
Throughout the excursion passing by more than two dozen exhibitors, students needed to find answers to the questions listed on their questionnaire guide.
“This is exciting,” a teacher from King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School noted as he shepherded his group, which was busy getting their hands dirty preparing media for a hydroponic planter.
Squeals of delight punctuated a neighboring group as water from the resource-management exhibit splashed them.
“This is where it needs to be,” another teacher noted as she viewed her students surrounded by stands of citrus and green grass while bathed by the cool mountain air.
“We learned about water,” another group of King Kaumuali‘i students said as they mulled their collection of literature while sipping guava juice from the Guava Kai exhibit while, further on down, an animated Monroe Richman of the Garden Island Orchid Society was demonstrating how an orchid grows.
Lincoln Ching and Valerie Kaneshiro were in a combined effort with Ed Kawamura, who had a variety of farm implements on display fronting a 4-H steer project as well as other livestock.
On the other side of the livestock, Ed Pickop of the state Department of Agriculture was swarmed by students eager for a closer look at two “illegal” lizards, while Len Riggle and Amanda Skelton extolled the virtues of grass in their soil-conservation booth where students learned about aquifers.
On an environmental note, students were presented information about genetic mutation from the GMO-Free Kaua‘i (genetically modified organisms) exhibit, and treated to a dose of humanity’s impact on the environment at the Malama Maha‘ulepu exhibit.
Sprinkled with generous doses of hands-on projects, the students discovered that the morning passed too quickly, and organizers are already looking at ways to improve the event for next year’s tour.
This is a resumption of a program that took a two-year respite due to the tremendous amount of work needed to secure the safety and well-being of the students during their time at the Wailua facility, organizers said.
Sports Editor Dennis Fujimoto may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
