School briefs | 8-20-14

Civil Air Patrol cadets take flight

Civil Air Patrol cadets take flight

Cadets in the Kona Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol recently had an opportunity to experience flights in the squadron’s Cessna 182. Cadets receive aerospace education, learn about safe ground handling of the aircraft and use the squadron’s flight simulators prior to their flights. The U.S. Air Force provides funding for up to five powered flights per cadet with each flight having a prescribed syllabus increasing in skill level as the cadet progresses. Flights are designed to provide cadets with the maximum opportunity for hands-on flying of the aircraft under the supervision of an authorized Civil Air Patrol and Federal Aviation Administration certificated pilot.

Cadets receive an extensive safety briefing prior to all flights and are quizzed on the material they have studied for the particular flight. They also conduct a preflight of the aircraft, examining the various control surfaces that they will be moving when they are flying the aircraft. Cadets assist in reading the various checklist items used in preparing the aircraft for engine start. They then get to taxi the aircraft using the rudder pedals as they venture out to the engine run up area where they assist in conducting pre-takeoff check list procedures.

Hiki No Festival to honor students’ video stories

PBS Hawaii’s first-ever Hiki No Festival will honor student video stories from 26 schools statewide.

In West Hawaii, student-produced video stories will be shown to the public on the big screen at 6 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy Gates Performing Arts Center and Konawaena Elementary School. The screenings are free.

The featured stories, produced last school year, have aired on PBS Hawaii’s student news program Hiki No and are nominated in this year’s Hiki No Awards. Konawaena High School has been nominated for best overall news story for their piece, “Sandy Hook Mural.” Hawaii Preparatory Academy has been nominated as the best home-base school in the high school category.

The winners will be announced via live stream Sept. 17 at pbshawaii.org. View past episodes or learn more about Hiki No at pbshawaii.org/hikino.

Hawaii Community College offering certified nurses’ aide training

Hawaii Community College is offering a new course this fall in West Hawaii that prepares students to become Certified Nurses’ Aides in two months.

Students who complete the course will be ready to the take the certification test that will allow them to become a CNA. Tuition is about $570. The course runs from Oct. 6 to Dec. 2 at the Kona Nursing Resource Center near the Kona Community Hospital in Kealakekua. The classroom day will be Mondays from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. with laboratory days on Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and clinical days on Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The application deadline is Sept. 22 and the registration deadline is Oct. 3.

Contact Raynette Haleamau-Kam at 969-8816 or haleamau@hawaii.edu for more information.

‘Back-2-Sku’ dance set for Friday

The Department of Parks and Recreation Waimea in partnership with Waimea Athletics will be hosting a “Back-2-Sku” dance from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Waimea Community Center. The dance is free and students must be in grades six through eight to attend. Doors close at 8 p.m.

Tickets for pizza and a drink are $5 and may be purchased from Te Benioni at Kanu o Ka Aina New Centry Public Charter School, Mr. Tamaye at Waimea Middle School or at the door.

For more information, visit waimeaathletics.org, email parksandrecwaimea@gmail.com or call Melissa Samura at 887-3014.

Enter Space Foundation’s student art contest

Students ages 3 to 18 years old are invited to enter the Space Foundation’s fifth annual International Student Art Contest. Children may draw, paint or create a digital image of their idea of the view looking into space from a spaceship for the contest theme “The View From My Spaceship.”

The deadline to submit entries is Nov. 14, and artwork must be submitted online by the student’s teacher. Home-schooled students may also participate.

Prizes will be awarded by age category. More than 7,100 entries representing 54 countries were entered last year.

Drawings, painting, mixed media and digital art are accepted. Winners receive a prize, a ribbon and a certificate. All entries will be displayed on Artsonia.com. Winning artwork will be displayed at the Space Foundation World Headquarters and Discovery Center Colorado Springs, Colo. Digital images of past winners’ artwork have been sent to the International Space Station

To learn more, visit bit.ly/150HQNv. For art upload or submission questions, contact Artsonia customer support at info@artsonia.com or call 800-869-9974. For general questions, email the Space Foundation at artcontest@spacefoundation.org.

Parker School welcomes Hendricks, Simperman to board of directors

Parker School has welcomed Julie Hendricks and Frances Simperman to its board of directors.

Born and raised in Waimea, Hendricks graduated from Hawaii Preparatory Academy. She earned a bachelor’s of science degree in textiles from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and launched a design company that focused on local sourcing of home decor before moving back to Hawaii Island to raise her children, both Parker School students.

Simperman recently retired from a long career as owner and operator of typesetter corporation. She is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Cytology and also holds a bachelor’s degree in special education from Seattle University. She worked as a special education instructor in Seattle area public schools and served as a representative of the Special Education Department of the Board of Education in Renton, Wash.

For more information, visit parkerschoolhawaii.org.

Charter schools get grant money to teach Hawaiian culture

Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have awarded a $1.5 million grant to charter schools with a special emphasis on native Hawaiian language, culture and traditions.

The grant is expected over the next year to help the 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools that make up Na Lei Naauao cover expenses such as teaching and feeding students and transporting them to school. Six of the schools are on Hawaii Island.

The grant comes at a time when Hawaiian-focused charter schools are scrambling to keep pace with growing enrollment, which climbed this year to 4,224 students from 3,202 students a year ago. The grant also reflects a top priority at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to increase the achievement levels of native Hawaiian students. Since 2010, the board of trustees has approved $7.5 million in grant money for Hawaiian-focused charter schools.