Hawaiian Medium Education
‘Aha Pūnana Leo has established eleven private Pūnana Leo Language Nests throughout the State of Hawai‘i. The graduates of these Language Nests provide a steady stream into the public Hawaiian Medium Educational System (HME). Upon entry into the State’s public Kindergarten HME Program, this stream of Pūnana Leo graduates is joined by other children wanting to receive their public education through Hawaiian. The ‘Aha Pūnana Leo has advocated on behalf of these children that there be sufficient resources allocated by the State of Hawai‘i to provide a continuation of Hawaiian Medium Education in the public school system. Over the past two decades the range of ‘Aha Pūnana Leo support was given in the form of funding for campuses, instructors and school personnel, books and other curriculum materials, transportation, computer equipment and other resources.
The first effort of the ‘Aha Pūnana Leo in K-12 education was to remove a near century long ban on the use of Hawaiian in the public schools. ‘Aha Pūnana Leo along with parents and other community supporters lobbied the state legislature and successfully removed the ban. When the State mandated Hawaiian Medium Education classrooms but failed to provide funding for the public HME program, ‘Aha Pūnana Leo met the need and housed the first public Hawaiian Medium School in a Pūnana Leo Language Nest building in Hilo. The term Kula Kaiapuni Hawai‘i (Hawaiian Surrounding Environment School) was coined at that school. Today, the State’s Public Hawaiian Medium Education Program is called by this name.
Annually some 2,000 students are served from the Pūnana Leo level through to the twelfth grade in Hawaiian language medium education. There has been considerable academic as well as cultural success in this system.
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