FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii (April 9, 2010) -- Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, other veterans and officials from the Army visited students on the Waianae Coast April 1, to see first-hand how they are using computers donated by the Army to increase their safety and knowledge about unexploded ordnance.
The schools visited were Nanaikapono Elementary School and Ka Waihona Public Charter School in Nanakuli.
The first stop was at Nanaikapono and the students and faculty were thrilled by the visiting senator. The students presented the visiting party with leis and sang songs such as Aloha means I love you with Kupuna (elders) backing them up on ukuleles.
After music and a question and answer session, the visiting party got to visit with the elementary school students and see how they use their computers to learn about unexploded ordnance and other educational topics.
"I know that this has taken a lot to make this happen," said school Principal Debra Knight. "This computer donation is so critical for us. It really helps us to meet our goals for a 21st-century education. We have to be able to prepare our kids for the 21st century. Mahalo!"
After an hour visit at Nanaikapono, the visiting party went to Ka Waihona Public Charter Elementary and Middle School. They were again greeted with leis and more singing and ukulele music from the eighth graders.
Ka Waihona Principal Alvin Parker thanked Sen. Inouye and the Army and took the visiting party to a social studies class where the students were studying the Holocaust using their new computers. According to Sen. Inouye, these two events brought together the local community and the Army community in the concept of Ohana and Laulima. (Ohana means family and Laulima means working together.)
"This morning I looked at two projects, the result of Ohana and Laulima," Inouye said. "This is where the military, the Corps of Engineers, the community, the Hawaiian organizations, all got together and this is the result. We have students here who will be able to compete with the finest in the land."
"So I want to congratulate all of you in the Ohana who participated in bringing this up. And I hope you can keep this up. You all work together. I've been spending much time with adults and politicians and industry leaders and this morning was, I would say, a most memorable day. It's been inspiring to be here and know that Hawaii is in good hands," Inouye said.
Maj. John Henderson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, deputy district commander, said "the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is very proud to represent the Army in this partnership with Sen. Inouye's office, the local community and our business partners, Native Hawaiian Veterans and Hawaii 3R's to help educate the children in these areas about the dangers of unexploded ordinance and what to do when they find it."
"We visited these two schools today to get a first-hand look at how this project is being implemented and to ensure that the federal dollars authorized are being used as intended," Henderson said. "It was absolutely great to see how these valuable teaching tools have been integrated into the classrooms, the progress our kids are making in the awareness of UXO, and the very positive impact this project is having in the local community to help keep our children safe."
The background of the program is that in fiscal year 2009, the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii received $850,000 to implement a UXO Safety Awareness Program for 11 Leeward Oahu Schools and two Big Island Schools.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District, in turn supports the garrison and the local community by providing safety awareness and helping to educate children who could be exposed to UXO. In order to best do this, the District contracted Native Hawaiian Veterans, to launch a public safety/outreach program for Oahu and the Big Island.
Native Hawaiian Veterans subsequently subcontracted Hawaii 3R's to procure computer equipment for the schools with UXO Safety Awareness materials.
The unexploded ordnance safety awareness training computer program has a primary audience of students from kindergarten to 12th grade and has put 370 new laptop computers into DOE and charter schools between September 2009 and February 2010.
The interactive UXO Safety Awareness materials installed on the laptop computers provide short UXO Safety questions and answers called "Fun Facts" as part of the computer log-in process. So far, 58 different "Fun Facts" screens have been added into the system. The Fun Facts are drawn randomly from a central Web site each time a student turns on the computer and starts the log-in process.
The 11 schools on Oahu are: Makaha Elementary, Waianae High School, Waianae Intermediate School, Waianae Elementary, Leihoku Elementary, Maili Elementary, Nanaikapono Elementary, Nanakuli High & Intermediate School, Nanakuli Elementary, Kamaile Charter School, Ka Waihona O Ka Na'auao Charter School. The two schools on the Big Island are: Keaukaha Elementary School and Waikoloa Elementary School.
(Joseph Bonfiglio is the chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District, and this article first appeared in the Hawaii Army Weekly at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.)
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