About
 
The Alaka`ina Foundation is implementing The Ho`okuleana Project for Educators with a vision of providing inspiration, support and guidance to our community of educators to "take responsibility for their environment" - building upon a concept of kuleana (responsibility) through professional development opportunities that will empower them to be better educators in the classroom with an understanding of how to be caretakers of their unique island community. This will be accomplished through a program that focuses on the following objectives: 1) providing professional development for educators in schools that are under served 2) establishing a framework consisting of content, tools, and human resources that builds capacity and is sustainable; and 3) leveraging and uniting existing resources in order to maximize their reach and make them accessible to educators within the public school system.
 
The Ho`okuleana Year One Project for Educators was implemented with 8 educators between the 2007 and 2008 school year on the island of Moloka`i in grades K-5. At the close of the year-long project, participants assisted the capacity building effort by presenting their projects in a public forum hosted by the Nature Center at The Moloka`i Community Center. The Ho`okuleana Year Two Project for Educators is now under way with 7 educators for the 2009 -2010 school year on the island of Moloka`i for grades K-6.
 
This program is funded by a NOAA BWET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) Hawai`i grant.