Michael Olores has some place to go after school, and that’s a good thing. Olores, a fifth grader at Waimea Canyon School, walks to the Waimea Neighborhood Center to participate in afterschool activities and help with the younger children. Center
Michael Olores has some place to go after school, and that’s a good thing.
Olores, a fifth grader at Waimea Canyon School, walks to the Waimea Neighborhood Center to participate in afterschool activities and help with the younger children.
Center facilitator Helen Kauanui has a weekly schedule that assists students with homework and offers fun things to do. Mondays, they sew with Auntie Josephine Dela Torre. Tuesdays, they do expressive art with Erika Denbo. Wednesdays, Kumu Lahapa (Kauanui) teaches Polynesian dance, drumming and ‘ukulele. Thursdays, Valerie Santiago teaches cooking and Takako Hashimoto teaches beginning Japanese. Fridays are for swimming, hip-hop and karaoke.
On this particular Thursday, students helped Santiago get some of the ingredients for fried noodles ready. After Santiago fried the noodles and the students ate them, Hashimoto sensei started her beginning Japanese lessons.
Originally from Japan, Hashimoto moved to Kaua`i with her husband and two children from Honolulu in December. While her husband, Rev. Kojun Hashimoto, services the Honpa Hongwanji temples in Waimea, Hanapepe and Koloa, Hashimoto is grateful for the chance Kauanui gave her.
“I cannot understand English yet,” she said. “Kumu said, ‘It’s okay, you can teach Japanese; we can teach you English.’”
Hashimoto said many grandmothers and grandfathers in Waimea speak Japanese, so the children want to learn Japanese. She focuses on easy Japanese songs, simple vocabulary to identify parts of the body and a “little bit of writing in hiragana.”
Kauanui is encouraging parents to register their children for the Winter Fun Program. The program will run during the public school winter holiday, now three weeks because of the new school calendar.
The winter program is for children kindergarten through 11 years from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Waimea Neighborhood Center has not run a summer enrichment program for six years, Kauanui said. If the winter program is successful, summer fun may return to the center.
To enroll, call Helen at 338-1122. Kauanui said they are also looking to hire staff positions.
• Cynthia Matsuoka is a freelance writer for The Garden Island and former principal of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. She can be reached by e-mail at aharju@kauaipubco.com.
