ʻOhana from Pūʻōhala School│Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻO Pūʻōhala gathered on November 7, for their annual STEM Night, a hands-on evening rooted in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) immersion and strengthened this year by a special partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi STEM Pre-Academy. About 270 people came together to explore science and engineering through activities led by students, kumu (teachers), UH and other community organizations.
“It was awesome to see families come and build rockets together!” said Nikki Saito, a program specialist at UH’s STEM Pre-Academy. “I always like to attend community events because we get to be a spark for STEM interest for students while doing something fun!”
Saito and her colleagues guided participants through a rocket launch activity, building and testing small paper rockets. Keiki rolled paper tubes, adjusted the fins, predicted the rockets’ paths and experimented with different launch angles to see how science and engineering principles shaped each flight.
Blending kaiapuni with STEM
To support the school’s mission of kaiapuni (Hawaiian language immersion), Pūʻōhala kumu Kalani Kuloloia created ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi versions of the rocket-making instructions, forces of flight and rocket parts. Haumāna (students), mākua (parents) and kūpuna (elders) worked together in Hawaiian as they rolled the kino (body), twisted the ihu (nose cone) and attached the ʻēheu (wings) of the rocket.
“Having a common and widely understood vocabulary when it comes to science and technology is still a work in progress,” said Kuloloia, who earned a BA in Hawaiian studies at UH Mānoa. “I appreciate opportunities like this to have materials available in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to foster conversations about STEM-related terms from different Hawaiian perspectives. I ola ko kākou ʻōlelo makuahine ma nā pōʻaiapili a pau o Hawaiʻi a puni ke ao. (May our mother tongue thrive in all contexts of Hawaiʻi and around the world).”
As part of STEM Pre-Academy’s mission to connect UH research and innovation to K–12 teachers and learners, STEM Night participants also had an opportunity to learn more about rocket- and space engineering-related programs across the UH System. Highlighted programs include Windward Community College’s Center for Aerospace Education and the UH Space Science and Engineering Initiative.
UH STEM Pre-Academy is a program of the UH Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.
For more go to the program’s website.
