Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha
About Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha
Photo Courtesy of Kauluakalana
Initiated in 2016, Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha (KAA) is a regional network of over 45 based ʻāina based organizations and schools from Koʻolaupoko and Koʻolauloa collaboratively working together to cultivate healthy ʻāina and communities. KAA has been blessed with grant resources to strengthen our efforts to yield a robust and growing network of Koʻolau ‘āina-based and education organizations. Working together, KAA is capable of leveraging its synergy for scaled impact and articulating its collective voice to drive the change and resilience trajectories in Koʻolau, O’ahu.
KAA seeks to use its collective influence to create pathways for all Windward Oʻahu students to graduate high school with an ‘āina aloha mindset and the resiliency and civic skills needed to protect and restore the watersheds and fisheries of Koʻolau by:
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Convening ʻāina and institutional partners in the region;
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Facilitating a shared understanding of an ʻāina aloha mindset;
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Piloting a program for Koʻolau youth to achieve such a mindset;
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Evaluating the pilot for success in supporting ʻāina based learning pathways.
Our Collective Impact Goal
By 2027, the KAA network will address Koʻolau climate and culture insecurity by engaging and empowering 100% of Koʻolau schools through Koʻolau grounded approaches and aloha ʻāina values; thereby supporting efforts to increase food security, influence public policy, and grow the next generation of career-ready, ʻāina aloha leaders.
Photo courtesy of Bonnie Kahapea-Tanner, Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy
Koʻolau Aina Aloha Learner Competencies
KAA members created Koʻolau Aina Aloha Learner Competencies as place-based learner competencies for the Koʻolau region. The KAA Learner Competencies allow the Koʻolau community to articulate what matters most and instill these values into the Windward educational system and every experience of students’ academic journey through coordinated regional learning pathways. The intention is to recover a mindset in which we center ʻāina as a living ancestor and kanaka as its steward, connected through interdependent relationships.
Aligned with the Department of Education Nā Hopena A'o (HĀ Framework) and General Learner Outcomes (GLOs), the KAA Learner competencies are at the heart of a new pilot program focused on 4th—6th grade students. The objective of the pilot is to co-develop approaches between Koʻolau classroom educators and ʻāina educators to define, describe, and preliminarily assess a Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha mindset with the end user in mind.
OUR TEAM
Steering Committee
Hiʻilei Kawelo, Paepae o Heʻeia
Māhealani Treaster, Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy
Maya L. Kawailanaokeawaiki Saffery, Kauluakalana
Melissa Mano, DOE Windward District Career and Technical Education
Network Co-Coordinators: Mahina Paishon and Breanna Rose