‘ELE‘ELE — The cold sprinkles that blew off the Kalaheo plateau did little to dampen the flame that burned in the hearts of the ‘Ele‘ele School fourth-grade students. Armed with clipboards, a flipbook of photos and descriptions of different plants,
‘ELE‘ELE — The cold sprinkles that blew off the Kalaheo plateau did little to dampen the flame that burned in the hearts of the ‘Ele‘ele School fourth-grade students.
Armed with clipboards, a flipbook of photos and descriptions of different plants, and a handful of assorted colorful ribbons, the students — accompanied by Karen Gunderson, Tiffani Keanini and Val Jackson — went into the bush at the trailhead of the path outside the school campus leading to Hanapepe town.
“They spent some time preparing for this,” Gunderson said, pleased with the enthusiasm demonstrated by the 70-plus students. “We did an initial presentation talking about invasive species before the class visited the Discovery Center in Koke‘e, and before this morning, the students and their teachers did a preview visit to this area to get an idea of what to expect.”
The students were involved in a service learning project centering around the eradication of invasive species around the concrete path which connects the school and its adjoining areas with Hanapepe.
The students used the ribbons to identify and tag invasive species and native plants.
“The students will also collect data on the number of plants and other information they can use for discussion when they get back into the classroom,” Gunderson said. “This hands-on type of learning really works.”
She noted the project just happened to coincide with the start of Earth Week, and the hands-on learning and eradication is a true example of an Earth Day project.
Dr. Leila Nitta, the school principal, said the service learning project coincides with the arrival of a mural by artist Fred Tangalin which will be formally unveiled during the school’s May Day program next month.
“The panels will be hung on one of the walls in the old cafeteria and can be moved to classrooms when teachers want to use a panel to illustrate a point,” said kupuna Janet Kahalekomo who was thrilled to see the mural arrive. “It’s an ahupua‘a, from the mountains to the sea.”
Tangalin said the mural is not complete; students will put on the finishing touches.
The eradication project is part of that overall scheme, Nitta said. The next step is the actual eradication of the invasive species. Students will be armed with clippers and weeders, joining crews from the Kaua‘i Invasive Species Committee.
“The planting of native plants to restore the area is the final stage of the project, but that will have to wait until next year because there is a drainage project which will take place following the eradication phase,” Gunderson said.
Gunderson said the project is actually spearheaded by Keanini, the KISC outreach and project facilitator, who responded to an e-mail from fourth-grade teacher Gail Smith inquiring about service projects the students could get involved in.
