Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary School will be one of the first Hawaii public schools to receive a traveling laboratory called a STEMcart, stocked with more than 250 lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.
Using a $50,000 donation from AT&T, the state Department of Education purchased two carts: one intended for Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary, and one for Pahoa High and Intermediate. However, one cart is being loaned to the Nanakuli-Waianae complex area in West Oahu until the DOE purchases an additional three carts later this year, said Christine Hirasa, DOE spokeswoman.
The other cart, which arrived in March on Hawaii Island, was given to Pahoa High and Intermediate, said Jim McCoy, of Hoakea Communications.
The DOE established two Zones of School Innovation in the communities of Ka‘u, Keaau and Pahoa here and in Nanakuli and Waianae on Oahu. The purpose of the zones is to target support for struggling schools in rural or remote, hard-to-staff areas serving the state’s largest population of Native Hawaiian and economically disadvantage students.
According to data from the 2011-12 school year, the Ka‘u-Keaau-Pahoa complex area had 6,703 students, of which 5,047 were economically disadvantaged, 3,073 were Hawaiian, 893 were in special education and 650 were English Language Learners. Complex Area Superintendent Mary Correa was out of the office Tuesday.
Daniel Youmans, AT&T External Affairs president for Hawaii and Washington, recently presented the check to Alan Oshima, Hawaii 3R’s chairman. Hawaii 3R’s secured the donation. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye established in 2001 the Hawaii 3R’s program to help provide a better and safer learning environment for Hawaii’s public school students by completing needed repair and maintenance projects. The R’s stands for Repair, Remodel and Restore Hawaii’s public schools. Hawaii 3R’s is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that leverages state and federal funds with private contributions, skilled labor and the “sweat equity” of volunteers.
For more than 10 years, Hawaii 3R’s has facilitated community involvement in helping public schools, Oshima said.
“This is a public-private partnership that will go a long way in helping students who need it most,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie. “This donation will help boost student achievement in Hawaii’s lowest-performing schools and narrow the digital divide.”
Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary Principal Sharon Beck said the STEMcart will be tremendously valuable for the 560 students who attend her rural kindergarten-through-12th-grade school, which has limited resources. She thinks such technology is important in teaching the skills needed in a modern economy and that are very relevant in today’s work world.
Beck said the STEMcarts will help inspire students in an engaging way and help them grow academically. Over the past six years, Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary have been making gains in Hawaii State Assessment scores and other achievements, such as increasing the number of graduates who go onto college. For instance, 47 of 60 last year’s seniors pursued higher education, she added.
Waianae Intermediate School seventh-graders did a demonstration with a STEMcart April 20 at the DOE board room in Honolulu. Designed by Lab-Volt Systems Inc., the STEMcarts are self-contained, can be easily rolled from classroom to classroom and are designed to be shared among grades and classrooms. Features include a desktop computer with LCD monitor and projector, data loggers, sensors and probes, a boom camera system for microscope projection and general demonstrations, and a microscope with prepared slides.
These mobile multimedia resource carts allow students to conduct experiments that would be too hazardous or costly in a traditional laboratory setting. Lessons include studying volcanoes, designing a power grid for a green community and using trigonometry to find a lost person.
The carts allow schools to offer lessons during the school day and after school to complement extended learning opportunities. The carts also support the state’s Race to the Top initiative by increasing STEM proficiency statewide, said DOE Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.
Student engagement and enthusiasm are the key arguments for investing in classroom technology like STEMcarts.
“Our students will have access to innovative new tools, which have never been used before in our public schools,” Matayoshi said. “These are proven teaching tools that are interactive and make learning exciting and engaging.”
