A new private K-12 school in Captain Cook, Corban Academy, held a land dedication ceremony Saturday with the hope of having the new structure ready for the 2025 school year.
“This is a new K-12 educational opportunity we have been working on for the last three years,” said Kona Faith Center Pastor and school headmaster Jason Meechan. “This is going to be an extension of Kona Faith Center.”
Kona Faith Center purchased the 4.5-acre parcel, mauka of the church located in the Keopuka Square Shopping Center, eight years ago.
“We had hoped that the new building would be done in time for the school to start in August, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work that way, so we will start the school in our current building,” he said.
The school opened enrollment during the first week of January and they already have 12 students interested in attending. Meechan said he has hopes of enrolling 50 kids by the start of the new school year in August.
The project is currently in the engineering phase with eight different engineers completing pre-construction work. Meechan anticipates applying for building permits by the beginning of the second quarter this year, with construction commencing after approval.
The new 15,000-square-foot building will house four classrooms.
“Our educational philosophies are different than public school. We are going to use the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum. The idea is they assess kids every year to see what level they are at and then give them individual work based on their level. My opinion is that most of the kids that don’t do well in school get bored. Either the material is way beyond them or way behind them and we are hoping by having all of the material at their level it will increase their motivation, curiosity, creativity and their desire to learn,” Meechan explained.
He said their goal was to customize curriculum for each individual.
“We recognize every kid has a God-given call and natural gift in talent and ability — especially vocationally — so we want to help the kids identify that early on,” he said.
The school has a partnership with Grand Canyon University which offers 180 different programs. If a student is in the track to pursue higher education, they will graduate from Corban with 60 credits from the university, the equivalent of an AA Degree.
“On our island, all of the unions start with an AA degree through the community college system. We want to partner with Palamanui and help the kids that want to go into electrician, plumbing, welding or whatever have all of the reading, writing and arithmetic stuff out of the way so they can focus on the trade,” he said.
Meechan said he was inspired to start the school from kids in his congregation.
“So many of the kids that come to our church — I see tremendous potential and they got lost in the cracks. The kids are the primary motivator, trying to find something for them to help them reach their potential,” he said.
He said people need to understand that the school is affiliated with the church and the Bible is part of every class, with biblical application applied to all aspects of education.
“The ACE curriculum uses scripture to work on character development. We want to make sure our kids have critical thinking skills, ability to follow directions, good written and verbal communication skills,” he said.
The mornings at the school will be dedicated to learning the three R’s, with people skills taking place in the afternoon such as courses in herb gardening, jujitsu, basic auto mechanics and the arts, including painting, drawing, hula and ukulele. The church also has a recording and video studio for students inclined to pursue those careers.
“We believe each child is devoted to God as a gift and so here at Corban Academy we want to cultivate and activate that within each child,” said Ian Hirakawa at the blessing. “Here at Corban Academy our purpose is to prepare students with practical skills to reach their purpose and calling.”
For more information you can visit their website at corbanacademy.org.