Ke Kula Kapa O Waimānalo
Through our education program Kumu Page Chang brings lessons in Kapa making to visitors and residents, to local and international organizations, and in public and private schools across Oʻahu.
School Education Program
Ke Kula Kapa O Waimanalo is dedicated to providing the wonderful practice of Kapa Making to as many of our Keiki in Hawai‘i as possible, while giving priority to schools and organizations serving a large population of students of Hawaiian descent.
Our goal at Pūkoʻa is to give as many students in the Hawaiʻi educational system the ability to learn about the culture and history of the beautiful place we live. Kumu Pageʻs Ka Papa Kapa program is able to take students through the full process of Kapa making, as well as offering different versions and levels of her program depending on a school/educator's needs and resources.
These options range from single day visits and introductory demonstrations to programs that operate year round. Kumu Page will come to you to provide an education in native plants, facilitate students making Kapa using tools they themselves will make by hand, and build a māla for the students and educators future use. Kapa Making can be used to teach standards in science, language arts, Hawaiiana, math, art, social studies and more! And the best part is that all students strengthen their sense of place, and their connection to Native Practices and ‘Āina.
We recommend emailing us at pukoastudios.com to discuss Kapa making in your school. Please check out our “Ka Papa Kapa menu/worksheet” to have an idea of whatʻs possible in your classroom.
Moving to a completely online format was a challenge for many during the Covid-19 pandemic, as it was for Kumu Page and the Pūkoʻa team. This adjustment did however result in our education program being revamped for situations like this which can still be beneficial to schools and students in the years to come.
First Kumu Page built a digital, interactive Choice Board for students to use at home.
The “Ka Papa Kapa” Choice Board is basically an interactive slideshow, or choice board, using an array of resources (videos, links, images, etc.), as well as incorporating learning platforms like google classrooms and Kahoot!. It engages students and helps them build strong learning habits, practice cultural protocols, participate in activities which will teach them all the steps necessary to process wauke into kapa using traditional Kapa tools, to learn and interpret the mo‘olelo (stories) surrounding the practice of Kapa, and to take part in assessments for each activity so that you can monitor their learning with data collection.
In order for the students to utilize the Choice Board completely and have hands-on experiences, they needed tools and supplies at home including Kapa making implements that are usually shared at school. Because of this, we needed to create enough tools for students to have full Home Kapa Kits. We ended up making 4 separate class-room sets of tools, over 100 sets of implements!
As we continue to collect donated hardwoods, and unfinished, damaged, and abandoned tools from previous Kapa classes, we are able to re-carve and rehabilitate them to be used for programs in the future.
Our goal is to eventually create a lending library of tools so that schools and educatorʻs can work independently following the lessons on the Ka Papa Kapa Explore Board.
Continued Growth and Access
Ke Kula Kapa has now planted 10 māla Wauke on O‘ahu, and is in the process of training 4 new Kumu Kapa. With the surge in interest, we are positioning ourselves to give access to anyone that wants to learn the practice and to serve Hawai‘i's students and educators for years to come, a legacy built on ‘ike Kupuna and sustainable, native practice.