Aloha `Aina Curriculum Workshop to be Offered on Maui

Attention Educators of Grades 3 – 6

Educators who are looking for creative ways to inspire Maui’s youth to excel in science, math, social studies and language arts standards and to care for resources within their ahupua‘a are invited to participate in the Project Aloha ‘Aina Curriculum Workshop. The hands-on workshop is available for grades 3-6 educators and will be offered on March 18th and 19th at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary in Kihei. The cost to participate is $20.

The workshop will include a teacher’s guide that offers standards-based lesson plans, student activity sheets, rubrics, related media, pre-post tests designed to help measure student achievement of standards, a half-day field excursion and lunch.

The Aloha ‘Aina curriculum allows students to learn about Hawai‘i’s unique environment while meeting the current Hawai‘i Content and Performance Standards (HCPS III) and the Na Honua Mauli Ola guidelines. Each grade level’s unit builds upon a foundation of culture and place-based learning while immersing students in scientific inquiry and related social studies explorations. Math and language arts skills are incorporated as a means for students to interpret and express their findings.

Shaping the future while preserving a heritage, Project Aloha ‘Aina is working to provide Hawai‘i’s youth with culturally relevant curricula to inspire them to embrace aloha `aina as a way of life. This educational project fosters foundational learning experiences that reflect Native Hawaiian culture and core values.

The Aloha ‘Aina and Kahea Loko (Hawaiian fishpond) curriculum were created by the Pacific American Foundation whose success was recognized in 2007 when it was awarded the “Partner in Excellence Award” from the Department of Education.

To register, go to www.thepaf.org. For more information, contact Joylynn Paman at [email protected] or call 359-1172.