by Alia Wong | Nov 22, 2013 | "learning hilo", k-12 education, language & culture, uncategorized
HILO, HAWAII — A 6-year-old boy stands between his classmates in line to gear up for the daily after-school assembly. His brown bangs are crooked and freckles dot his nose and cheeks, which are marked with traces of his last meal. If his blue T-shirt of Batman, the...
by Alia Wong | Nov 20, 2013 | "learning hilo", charter schools, education, language & culture, uncategorized
HILO, HAWAII — A group of barefoot children around 10 years of age wait patiently for one of the few actual classrooms at a South Hilo charter school to empty out so they can go into class. On a cement pathway they sit on simple white plastic buckets they have turned...
by Alia Wong | Nov 19, 2013 | "learning hilo", charter schools, education, language & culture, uncategorized
KEAAU, HAWAII — In terms of quantifying school failure, at least by Department of Education standards, Nawahiokalaniopuu Iki is nearly unbeatable. The school, whose student body is among the poorest in the state, earned just 20 points out of a possible 400 on Strive...
by Alia Wong | Nov 15, 2013 | "learning hilo", charter schools, education, language & culture, uncategorized
HILO, HAWAII — Downtown Hilo looks like it’s frozen in time. Low, modest buildings are deteriorating relics of the sugar plantation era. The streets are usually quiet and free of traffic. Palm trees line a main boulevard that runs along the normally calm Hilo...
by Alia Wong | Nov 13, 2013 | "learning hilo", charter schools, education, uncategorized
MOUNTAIN VIEW, HAWAII — At 5:45 each school morning, Daniel Caluya wakes up the homeless people and transient drug addicts who are camped out in the open-air walkways. After encouraging them to move on, he collects and discards needles and other paraphernalia. Then...
