explorations

In July, our oldest grand-niece Ale'a went through Kamehameha Schools' "Explorations" program.  Hard to believe that she had finished fifth grade and is now a sixth grader.  Students in the program are between fifth and sixth grade.  The students check in on Sunday and stay in the dorms all week, participating in activities such as making ipu out of gourds, lauhala bracelets, and bamboo nose flutes,  going on field trips to Bishop Museum, Iolani Palace, a taro patch and fishpond, and learning about Hawaiian language and culture.  On Friday evening, the kids put on a performance for their families, to show what they've learned.

We had gone to watch her mom Ipo perform after her Explorations week, so it was hard to believe it was her daughter's turn.







Here's Ale'a with her parents, Ipo and William.















And here's Ryan at his Explorations!  We joke that after he went through the program, he came out "Hawaiian"…before that he really hadn't had much exposure to that part of his heritage.

Looking forward to the next four years of Explorations programs, if Kolee, Kala'i, Nohi and Po'i all go!