Middle School Ed-Venture

On Tuesday April, 28, for their Quarter 4 Ed-venture, 7th grade students traveled to Wanini (Anini) to participate in historical and cultural education. We worked with Kīpuka Kuleana, a nonprofit organization and community-based land trust that protects ancestral lands under threat and revitalizes relationships between people and ʻāina (lands and waters) on Kauaʻi. First, Kumu Tina and Aunty Mālana visited class to teach students an introduction to the area's history, place names, oli, and the context of how the Kuleana ʻāina was divided in the Māhele of 1848. For the huakaʻi, the goal was to connect students to Wanini by fostering an understanding of its historic cultural significance and engaging them in hands-on stewardship and service-learning that cultivates a sense of kuleana to place. This included a beach cleanup, cleanup of the kuleana parcel, and reinforcement of the learning that was done in class. Students also had the opportunity to swim at the beach, taking full advantage of this land that is meant to support our community.