“Are you with me now” A J Ryder
“This is only the beginning of an incredible journey that we will continue weaving together — a community lei that will connect us to the history of this place and the potential of our future.” Kapua Chandler
Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island
It is only fitting that Kapua’s quote is starting this TGIF off about our incredible time being part of the start of the Namahana School. The local paper, TGI – The Garden Island wrote a great story about this opening ceremony that happened exactly one year from the official opening day of the school.
Over 300 hundred people of all ages were part of the celebration of Namahana. There was music, dance, food and objects made especially for the day with a highlight being the Land Blessing.
In preparation, we picked Tea leaves for lei’s and then made them.
We put up large tents, one a three master.
Floral arrangers were busy into the night and early morning making these beautiful bouquets.
The Kilauea Social Club arranged the music. Food came from the land and sea and was just delicious. The catch came in fresh off the boat. Everything was donated including loads of people’s time. All of this was done by the community and orchestrated by Kapua and her Ohana.
The culminating event was an amazingly joyful Land Blessing that took on new meaning for me.
Namahana mountain and the surrounding peaks were the background for the Land Blessing and when you looked the other way, you saw the ocean. It was a watershed moment with me gaining more of an understanding of aina through yet another experience. The Land Blessing occurred one year from the day the school will open. I was so glad that BPL alums, students, parents and Jessica Rishe, SMASH principal were there to be part of the days of preparation and celebration.
Both before and after the event Andrea, Anthonette, Jessica, alums, students and I were also busy at all sorts of meetings and workshops for B-U, IBPLC, family engagement, and funding. It was a great week.
Of course, we were also getting ready for the IBPLC Australia trip in May. Andrea and Anthonette finished off a contract for B-U and IBPLC with Oakland Adult Ed and on my plane ride back, I had time to review a draft of the HFF Longitudinal Study that is one heck of a document Scott Boldt assembled. I also fit in a podcast for City Year called Why It Matters with Jonathan Raymond.
Kauai’s TGI paper had these quotes from me that do a pretty good job of summing up my feelings for the week. I’ll explain in more detail next week..
“I’ve been working at the forefront of educational change for more than 30 years, and I can say with total conviction that Namahana is one of the brightest lights in the future of learning,”
“BPL schools have always placed enormous value on our students cultivating meaningful relationships with their community. But Namahana has taken our vision even further by incorporating culture and place into students’ understanding of self and community. All of us in the BPL network are excited to see the positive impacts that Namahana will have on Kauai’s North Shore, and the world at large.”
Be Well!
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