The Power of Lōkahi
By Pallavi Rudraraju, DC Elementary School Program Intern
Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff
Last week at the Walker-Jones Education Campus, our Ohana learned and embodied the Hawaiian value of Lōkahi – teamwork and cooperation. AALEAD was introduced to the term via our interactive weekly assembly, led this week by Ms. Diana and Mr. Justin. During the assembly, youth also learned about their upcoming field trip to the National Building Museum and Newseum and were taught the Banana Dance and Whip/Nae Nae by their classmates.
Throughout the week, the youth learned about topics ranging from endangered species and Hawaiian legends to dance performances and different kinds of families, and expressed what they learned through creative activities and projects.
After learning about the green sea turtle’s endangered species status and the Hawaiian legend of Kauila, the green sea turtle who protects children, youth from Ms. Jade’s class created their own sea turtles out of egg cartons.
Last week, PreK-1st grade youth from Ms. Nadia’s class participated in a dance workshop and began to develop their own dance pieces! Later that week, they also learned about transracial adoptive families in an identity workshop centered on the different types of families.
The rising 5th-and-6th grade class, Kahoolawe, worked hard on preparations for their newsletter, which will be distributed in print as well as online through our summer newsletter Tumblr page. Our first release is this Friday, and we hope you enjoy Kahoolawe’s efforts! Here’s a sneak peek of some photos from the Newseum that will be featured in the newsletter:
At the Newseum on Friday, the rising 3rd through 6th graders watched 4-D movies detailing the history of American journalism and visited many exhibits, including some about the Civil Rights Movement and the Berlin Wall. They even recorded their opinions on the Supreme Court’s recent decision to legalize same-sex marriage throughout the nation and pooled their ideas and resources to answer interactive bingo-style questionnaires!
The rising PreK-2nd graders, in the meantime, visited the National Building Museum, where they learned about the building-making process, created mini buildings of their own in interactive exhibits, and watched movies about construction and architecture.
By the end of the week, it was clear to see that the youth had incorporated the message of Lōkahi,teamwork, cooperation, and unity, into their daily activities with AALEAD. Inside the classroom, classes worked as a team, and even outside on the field trips, the youth worked together!