Ha Ha Ha!

Adopt-A-Class, Year Three

Richard Ha writes:

Last night I sent in testimony supporting the Senate Bill that would give authority to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo's Mauna Kea Rangers to implement the Comprehensive Management Plan. (See below.)

The Senate passed the bill today, which was good.

But I kept on thinking about our Adopt-A-Class project, and wanting to make sure the Keaukaha Elementary School children can continue to go on excursions. Six hundred dollars adopts a class at Keauakaha Elementary School and sends the students on an excursion they would otherwise not take.

This is the third year we are seeking donations for our Adopt-A-Class program. At our website, you'll see that a person or group can sponsor the whole excursion for one class ($600), or make a donation of $100 or more and contribute toward that class excursion.

If you can help, please look at the website and tell us which class you'd like to sponsor, and for what amount. There is more information about the process here.

In the meantime, here is the testimony I sent in. Among other things, it explains how we came to start the Adopt-A-Class program in the first place.

Dear Senators,



I am testifying in very strong support of HB 1174, HD3, SD2, the bill that enables us to malama Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is our kuleana. We know what to do.



I am Richard Ha and I’m a native Hawaiian and a life-long Big Island farmer. We farm 600 acres at Pepeekeo. We have farmed bananas for 25 years and hydroponic vegetables for the last five. Over the years we have produced millions of pounds of food. We sell under the Hamakua Springs brand in the supermarkets. Nearly 70 of us work on the farm. We are concerned with food security and sustainability, especially since we sit out here on islands in the middle of the Pacific.

I would like to share with you how I came to be involved with issues related to Mauna Kea. Three years ago, when I was a new member of the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board, the Thirty-Meter Telescope people inquired about siting their telescope on Mauna Kea and the HIEDB formed a special TMT committee. I had strong feelings about the way it should be done: It should be done right! So I volunteered to sit on that committee. Before that, I was just a banana farmer.

When you talk about Mauna Kea you automatically talk about the Hawaiian culture, and when you talk about that, you end up in Keaukaha, the oldest Hawaiian Homes community on the Big Island (75 years). I found that the elementary school there is the center of the Keaukaha community.

I went to see Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, with what I thought was a good proposal: “The TMT wants to come to the Big Island; what happens if we can convince them to give some kids from the community five, full-ride scholarships to the best schools in the nation?”  



Kumu Lehua listened, and then he asked me: “What about the rest?” I could feel my ears getting hot and I felt kind of stupid. Yes, what about the rest?



Also, because the TMT had intentions to do things for the community, I expected the community would be receptive. Instead, I found that the Keaukaha people were very wary, wanting to know: “What do you really want?” They had been promised things many times before.



In the meantime, the TMT board decided to deal directly with UH system. But having met and liked the people in the Keaukaha community and elementary school, I went back again and again to talk story.



One day, I offered to sponsor an excursion to my farm. In the course of that trip, I asked Kumu: “Eh, where you guys go on excursion?” He told me they did not go. “No more money.” Instead, they walked around the neighborhood. I said: “What you mean?” He said, “The bus costs $300 and we don’t have enough money for all the classes.”

I was shocked. How could this be? There were hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of telescopes on Mauna Kea and there was no evidence of any benefit to Keaukaha, the most Hawaiian of Hawaiian communities?  This no can! We needed to do something.



So, myself, Duane Kanuha, Leslie Lang and Macario decided to copy the Adopt a Child template—where you pay $20 a month and the child sends you a letter and a picture every so often. We decided to do an Adopt A Class project so each class could go on excursions.

We figured $300 for the bus and $300 for entry fees to ‘Imiloa – the world-class Hawaiian culture astronomy museum. So for $600, people could adopt one class and send them on excursion. In four months, we had all the classes going on excursions both semesters.



The idea was contagious. Gordon and Betty Moore heard about the project and donated money to send all classes on the Big Island, from kindergarden to high school – in all public, private and charter schools – to ‘Imiloa. That was nearly three years ago. Now I hear they plan to expand this idea to the San Francisco Bay area.



And due to Kumu Lehua’s leadership, Keaukaha Elementary, a perpetually low-achieving school, had two consecutive years of improvements and came off the No Child Left Behind non-performing list. It was the only elementary school on the Big Island to achieve this distinction. Now they are role models. Imagine that.



Kumu Lehua told me this story: He said a teacher recently came in to interview to see if she could teach at Keaukaha Elementary. He rolled his chair back and told me, “She said it was a career move!”



I have attended at least eight public hearings about Mauna Kea, and many regular meetings of the Keaukaha Community Association, as well as meetings of the Kanaka Council. I have friends on all sides of the issue.



I see myself as a bridge between the shiny shoe crowd and the rubbah slippah crowd. I think that if we all can move toward the center a bit, we can make this work for all of us and especially for future generations.



It is no secret that I think that the TMT can bring benefit to the community. But when I first volunteered for the TMT committee, I insisted it be done right.

So we must malama Mauna Kea before we do anything else. HB 1174, HD3, SD2 helps to enforce the rules that the Comprehensive Management Plan proposes.

I started off by saying that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. When I was a young boy, my dad told me: “There are a thousand reasons why, no can; I only looking for one reason why: CAN!”



Richard Ha



President, Hamakua Springs Country Farms

Adopt-a-Class, Then & Now

Richard Ha writes:

I want to recognize the people who made it possible for Keaukaha Elementary School kids to go on excursions last year.

We started our Adopt-a-Class program in the Spring of 2007, when I learned that Keaukaha Elementary School didn’t have the money to take its students on field trips. My friend Duane Kanuha and I had the idea to ask people in the community to sponsor the kids on field trips to the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center and wherever else the teachers wanted to take them.

These folks got on board solely because it needed to be done. There were no ulterior motives, and nobody did it for recognition or anything. It was just something that needed to be done, and they felt like doing it. Thank you to this group of people who got our Adopt-a-Class program off the ground:

Kindergarten - John and Linda Tolmie; Virginia Goldstein

First grade - Hawaii Island Economic Development Board; Sonia Juvik;
Brad Kurokawa

Second grade – Anonymous; Leslie Lang & Macario; Dan Nakasone; Kama‘aina Backroads; Kee Han & Vivienne Seaver Ha; and the Managers at Alan Wongs

Third grade - Anonymous (2); Lance Duyao in memory of his mom Audrey

Fourth grade - Sydney & Aileen Fuke; Yamanaka Enterprises

Fifth grade - Tracy & Kimo Pa; AstroDay Institute

Sixth grade - Richard & June Ha; Duane Kanuha; Alan Wong; Alan Ikawa

All during the last school year we got thank you notes with great, colorful drawings telling and showing us where the classes went on their excursions.

Now it’s the second year, and many of our same donors have given again.

And something else exciting has happened, too. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation heard about our program, and pretty soon they decided to provide funding so that 50 percent of the students on the Big Island could visit ‘Imiloa with their school over the next two years. When the bus companies heard about it, they negotiated such low rates that the funding was enough for all Big Island students – public, private and charter – to visit the cultural and astronomy center.

And the Moore Foundation is now considering doing a similar program in the San Francisco Bay area, as well.

Now, almost unbelievably, it’s possible we might be able to take it even a step further. The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) project, which might be built atop Mauna Kea, comes with a serious commitment to giving back to the island. We at the Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board have made it clear that this telescope is welcome here only under strict guidelines, and if our people benefit. One benefit? The TMT is committed to funding educational opportunities – but has said it would leave the actual administration and direction of the educational funding up to the community.

The TMT could take our simple program and run with it. Take it to a much higher level.

This is an opportunity to get away from our reliance on tourism, and to educate our children and their children in subjects that will help them lead sustainable lives here. This is one of the reasons I support the Thirty-Meter Telescope. It could really make a substantial difference in lives of our Big Island children for generations to come.

Keaukaha Comes to the Farm

Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, brought his teachers and staff to the farm on Friday.

They arrived in a big yellow school bus, and then everybody gathered outside the office in a loose circle while Kumu Lehua (in the orange shirt) chanted.

And then the tour started. Richard spoke a little, telling how they decided to move the farm to Pepe‘ekeo and talking about the significance of the resources here in helping them decide.

He led a tour of the tomato houses, and explained that they look very simple “but a lot of thought went into that simple design.” He spoke a bit about how they operate.

Here is everybody walking through one of the tomato houses.

Someone asked about organics, and Richard said something I found interesting. He explained: “Our objective is to feed as many people as we can, the best we can. Like the ahupua‘a system the Hawaiians used to have – what works, works. We try to use the best technology available in the smartest way possible.”

Charlotte Romo, the farm’s greenhouse expert, elaborated, saying the farm “doesn’t want to get stuck in a label of ‘organic.’” She pointed out that when they have to spray, they use the same products organic growers use. And that she scouts each of the more than 100 tomato houses every single week to check not only what insects are present, but at what stage of development. She pointed out that what kills larvae isn’t what works on an older insect, and that they spray only for what is present. “We don’t want to just spray all houses the same,” she said.

Packing tomatoes in the packing house, with bananas beyond.

While we toured the packing house and the banana operation, I had a chance to talk a bit with Kumu Lehua.

This is Kumu Lehua (left) and Richard (right).

I learned that Keaukaha Elementary is the only school on this island to have moved out of the federal “No Child Left Behind” restructuring.

Kumu Lehua told me, “Our school learns differently. Without the trips (provided by community members through Adopt-a-Class), I don’t think the academics would have gone up. For us it’s about getting them out. Before, there was a moratorium, you couldn’t take the kids out,” he said. “But that’s how our kids learn.”

Just before they brought out the lunches they’d brought for all of us, Kumu Lehua spoke. He explained what the school’s connection with Hamakua Springs has meant.

“Three years ago,” he said, “when Richard called me, it was because of Mauna Kea. I was fortunate to talk story with him. When I came to Keaukaha School, that connection became important to the children.

“I want to mahalo Richard and June,” he said. “They’ve meant a lot to the school, though a lot of people outside the school don’t know it. If it wasn’t for last year, there are things we wouldn’t have been able to experience, especially the excursions.”

He explained that before they came to the farm that morning, they had had three community kupuna (elders) come in and speak to them. He motioned to his staff. “You heard our kupuna say, ‘At one time Keaukaha School was not one to be recognized.’”

“Mahalo to Richard and June for being there,” he said.

—posted by Leslie Lang

In Good Standing!

Richard Ha writes:

I was so happy to receive this email a couple days ago. It's from Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary School. That's the school we work with through our Adopt-a-Class program.

Kumu Lehua announced:  It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

On Friday, the local paper had a sub-headline: “31 of 42 Big Island Schools fail to make the grade.” Keaukaha School was one of the 11 schools that passed.

For as long as I can remember, 40 years at least, it was assumed that Keaukaha kids had a hard time doing schoolwork. Or maybe some people were assuming even worse.

That has now changed forever. Keaukaha Elementary has proved itself a role model as measured by modern methods.

Last year at this time, I heard whisperings that Keaukaha Elementary School had made progress with their ratings, and that with one more year of good results it would be removed from the list of schools to be restructured. Was it true? People were asking: could it be? Some were in tears. 

A year later, and we have this incredible announcement.

It is much, much more than just an announcement. I feel like a big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can only imagine what it must mean to the community, teachers, staff and especially to KUMU LEHUA.

Read the whole announcement, from Kumu Lehua Veincent, below:

To members of the Keaukaha Community Association, Keaukaha School Foundation, Keaukaha Parent-Teacher Association, Keaukaha School Community Council, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, Kamehameha Schools, Ke Ana La'ahana PCS, Hamakua Springs, INPEACE/SPARK, and UH-Department of Education!

It is my honor and my privilege to announce that Keaukaha School has MET Adequate Yearly Progress for SY 2007-2008 as announced by the Department of Education yesterday.

This second year progress has moved the school out of RESTRUCTURING STATUS into IN GOOD STANDING, UNCONDITIONAL!

We take one year at a time with new students, new attitudes, new behaviors, and new ways of learning guiding our next action step. We continue to build upon this dualistic approach to learning in not only maintaining our stance in achieving the standards set forth in our educational realm but also a standard set forth by our own kupuna, 'ohana, and the history of a unique place of setting - our beloved Keaukaha. We move forward by looking backwards! We move forward with humility yet with focus and strength! We move forward with pono!

As business and educational partners to Keaukaha School, you have all kokua by embracing Keaukaha School and the many ways of learning that honors genealogy, history, and place! Your unconditional aloha to all of our keiki here at Keaukaha School is acknowledged and appreciated! The cliché that "we couldn't have done it without you" extends farther -- your support establishes the foundation from which learning takes place and empowers a community to do what is pono for all that live here!

I honor you, our faculty and staff, our 'ohana, and our community.

Please share with your constituents at your respective agencies this voice of aloha and mahalo!

Me ke aloha nui ia 'oukou a pau!

na'u, na Kumu Lehua

Mahalo from the Second Graders

More young visitors and more sweet thank yous! Second graders from Keaukaha Elementary School and the Adopt-a-Class program came to visit the farm recently, and then big packets of thank you notes arrived.

A note from one of the second grade teachers, Wendi Kimura.

She added this post-it.

The students each wrote individual thank you notes. Several of them, like Tiani, below, commented on the "man who chopped the banana tree fast."

I wasn't present and I don't know who demonstated chopping down the bananas, but he made quite an impression. Look at Caleb's great illustration!

Kaimana picked up something about the importance of "sustainability." Excellent!

And check out what Makena learned! (I circled the part I'm referring to.) Richard's message got through.

It's the message he talks about everywhere he goes, to every student he speaks to. When I hear him, I think, "If even just one of these kids really hears that and internalizes it and remembers it, what a difference it could make to their entire life." It looks like Makena heard it.

They also sent a collage of photos. Here's Richard and his daughter Tracy with the kids.

And the students.

– posted by Leslie Lang

Ripples for Education

It’s a cliché, but it’s true that you really never know what will happen when you drop a tiny pebble into a pond.

Since Richard first heard that Keaukaha Elementary School didn’t have enough money to take its students on field trips, and set up the Adopt-a-Class program to send the students to Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, the ripples have been getting bigger and bigger.

The community stepped up to that call, and paid for buses and admission fees so that Keaukaha kids got to take some amazing field trips this school year.

Ka‘iu Kimura, Assistant Director of ‘Imiloa, says that the Adopt-a-Class program has taken off beyond just Keaukaha now. “Some of our members at  ‘Imiloa have adopted other classes now,” she says. “It’s the coconut wireless. People have called and asked, ‘How can we sponsor Pa‘auilo School,’ for instance. It’s infectious.”

And then Gordon and Betty Moore got involved. Gordon was co-founder of Intel Corporation, and he and his wife now divide their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Big Island.

Kimura says they’d visited ‘Imiloa (“under the radar; they don’t like recognition”) and liked what they saw. One of their people contacted ‘Imiloa and heard about Richard Ha and the Adopt-a-Class program.

He invited ‘Imiloa to submit a proposal to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to expand the program so that 50 percent of all school students on the Big Island could visit ‘Imiloa.

They did. It was accepted.

And then, ripple ripple, Kimura says that when ‘Imiloa sought bids for buses to transport the students – the biggest expense – they found that “bus companies are so willing to work with us that we think we’re going to be able to expand it from 50 to 100 percent of the students on the Big Island.”

That’s every Big Island student in public, charter and private school having the opportunity to learn about science and astronomy and native Hawaiian culture at ‘Imiloa. All because some people felt bad that students in Keaukaha didn’t have money for field trips and did something about it.

“Basically it means that for the next two years,” explains Kimura, “we will service 15,000 Big Island students in grades K through 12.”

The Moore Foundation grant has a matching requirement for the second year, so ‘Imiloa will be launching a campaign to help fund the second year soon. And ‘Imiloa is bringing in an outside evaluator in hopes of finding a way to expand the school visits beyond the two years, so it can offer them on a perpetual basis.

The Moore Foundation’s grant technician told her they are now considering having the Moore Foundation start funding kids in the San Francisco Bay Area to go to science centers near them, too.

“I just want to mahalo that core group that put together that Keaukaha opportunity,” says Kimura. “Not only the Moore Foundation, but also the local community people who really liked that idea and were willing to support schools in their own area.”

“It’s resonated out from Keaukaha to the whole island to the Bay Area,” she says. “It’s been an exciting thing to see it grow.”

– posted by Leslie Lang

Kindergarten and Second Grade

Richard Ha writes:

The kindergarten and second grade classes from Keaukaha Elementary School came to visit us at the farm last week. It was the second excursion each class took this year.

Everybody gets one banana. But you can have another one after you're done.

The excursion was only possible because of the generous contributions of the following people: John and Linda Tolmie, Virginia Goldstein, Leslie Lang and Macario, Dan Nakasone, Kama‘aina Backroads-Roland Torres, Kee Han and Vivienne Seaver Ha and the managers at Alan Wongs Restaurant.

Virginia Goldstein adopted the kindergarden class. At the end of the tour, they all yelled, "Thank you, Aunty Virginia!"

I wish everyone could have heard how grateful the teachers and students are to have such generous sponsors.

I was so impressed with the teachers. They have the most important job there is. We all owe them a lot.

"Line up behind me!"

Tracy, on the finer points of growing bananas.

All kids love standing around in the cooler after a trek around the farm:

I told the kids they can do anything they wanted to. I told them the story about my dad telling us stories when I was their age. We were poor and had a picnic bench for a dinner table. He would say, “Not, ‘No Can.’ ‘CAN!’” Anything was possible. 

Before the kids left, I told them “Not, ‘No Can.’” They all yelled back in unison “CAN!!” 

It was a good day.

Chapter 3 - Keaukaha Morning

We watched Chef Alan Wong cook something up the other morning at Keaukaha Elementary School in Hilo.

He was there in conjunction with Richard’s Adopt-a-Class program. Chef Alan had adopted the 6th grade, and then asked if he could go speak to them. So when he was in town last week, he did.

The students chanted a Hawaiian welcome to him. That's Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha School, standing next to Chef Alan.

That crew is from PBS. They filmed the whole morning for a Chefs Afield episode they're doing about Alan Wong, which will air sometime next year.

He is just wonderful with kids. Very down-to-earth, very open, very real. He’s a natural-born teacher and the students really responded. They were amazingly engaged.

He and Richard both spoke to the kids. Chef Alan told them, “If Alan Wong can do it, you can do it.” He told them that he grow up thinking salad dressing came out of a bottle. They, too, can achieve anything, he told them. “You just have to work hard,” he said.

Richard told them that when he was their age they were kind of poor, and they had a picnic table in the kitchen for their dinner table. He said his father would pound on that table and say, "Not 'no can.' 'CAN!" Richard told those kids they could do anything they want.

Chef Alan showed the students how to make mayonnaise and also a li hing mui salad dressing. As he cooked in front of them, he kept pointing out what part of what he was doing had to do with reading, and what was math, and what was science, and made the point that if they wanted to do that kind of job they'd better stay in school.

When he started, he asked how many kids hated tomatoes and most raised their hands. By the time he did a taste test with them – they tasted a piece of Brand X tomato, and then a piece of a Hamakua Springs tomato – they were believers. At the end, some of his people walked around with platters of cut-up heirloom tomatoes and the kids were actually lunging for them, trying to get tomatoes to eat.

Afterward, some of the students showed Richard and Chef Alan their kalo (taro) patch.

The principal of the school told me they never get people of such celebrity speaking to, and inspiring, their kids. Richard says that one of the teachers told him, too, that no one comes to Keaukaha Elementary to tell the kids they too can do it. He says the teacher had tears in her eyes when she told him that.

It was really an incredible morning.

—posted by Leslie Lang

Welcome Chant

We were interested to see that when Keaukaha Elementary School students visited ‘Imiloa recently as a result of our Adopt-a-Class program, they did a traditional Hawaiian chant for permission to enter, and then Hoku‘ao Pellegrino responded with a traditional ‘oli komo, or welcome chant.

Hoku‘ao works at ‘Imiloa as Cultural Landscape Curator, caring for more than 50 types of native plants found on the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s nine acres.

He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani Hawaiian Language Progam last year. Besides his passion for kalo (taro) and other native plants, he considers his role to be sharing and increasing understanding of the Hawaiian language, culture, music and values.

Here is a glimpse of the traditional greeting and welcome between students and Hoku‘ao, who of course represented ‘Imiloa.

—posted by Leslie Lang

‘Ohana Night

Richard Ha writes:

June and I were so honored to be invited to ‘Imiloa for an ‘Ohana Night get-together held Wednesday night for the families of teachers and staff of Keaukaha Elementary School. The folks from the Gemini Observatory put on a program for the small kids.

The whole night came about because of the Adopt-a-Class project and the energy generated by this worthy project. First Peter Giles, director of ‘Imiloa, gave a brief introduction. He talked about the Hawaiian culture’s connection with the heavens. 

Back in May or so, I told Peter about our new Adopt-a-Class project and that we wanted to tie it into ‘Imiloa’s Hawaiian culture-oriented approach to science. I asked Peter if he would talk story with Kumu Lehua Veincent, principal of Keaukaha Elementary.

Peter did not expect Lehua to come see him, as some people in his position might have. Instead, he went to see Lehua. It was an acknowledgement that there is nothing more important than teaching the keiki. And at their meeting, Peter seemed to instantly understand that this is a special place—a special school.

I could tell that the experience affected him profoundly. Now he is learning Hawaiian language from Kumu Lehua. Peter is one of those people who “get it.” I have a lot of respect for him.

At ‘Ohana Night, we went into the planetarium so the children could get a sense of how many different cultures looked at the sky and gave names to the star combinations. They got a feel for the moon’s relationship to Earth.

When we returned to the “classroom” we were asked to demonstrate how far away the moon is from the earth, and other puzzling questions.

June and I were pleased to see the “ripple effect” of our Adopt-a-Class program, as these young kids from Keaukaha have experiences and exposure that will only help to open up their universe.

More than anything, we came away feeling how privileged we are to help teachers accomplish their goals by bringing together people who believe, like us, that there is no more noble profession than to teach our children.

Some photos from the ‘Imiloa ‘Ohana Night:

"Okay, your job is to make 50 balls of equal size from this 1 lb. ball of Play-Doh. If you make one ball represent the moon, and then roll up the 49 other balls into one big one, you will see the relative size of the moon to the Earth."

That's Kumu Lehua. He says, "Why can't learning be fun?"

"Okay, we have to do this right! They said the ratio is 49 to 1, not 49 to 1.2!"

"Okay, so what you think?"

Aunty Luana says: "Take the string and make it 30 times the diameter of the Earth, and when you stretch it out, that will be the distance from the Earth to the moon."

"Again, students: Thirty times the thickness of the Earth is the distance from the moon to the earth. Got that?" They might have gotten that for the rest of their lives.