Lhes Foundation

Design and conduct collaborative and sustainabale community learning opportunities that ensure all participating children meet and/or exceed academic standards, aspire for higher education and careers, and become leaders in their community. Following is a description of the core elements: anything and everything is possible - students, parents and teachers believe that the students are unlimited in how high they can achieve and aspire to. Lanai (place) based - understanding lana`i as a place that represents the broader world where you can use lana`i to replicate life to where the students are living. The students know about the history & culture of lana`i - it can be demonstrated (i.e. Test, drawing, project, etc.). Students know who they are, where they are going- a sense of self. I.e., genealogy. Demonstrate an understanding of how life and living on l?na`i happens. Whether it is the economics of their home, or their ecosystems on the island, or the social interactions between families. It`s understanding how socio-physio-cultural conditions exist. The measurements are based on their participation and performance on design/problem-based activities. Multi-faceted assessments to measure multi-faceted learning activities. Hands-on and project based: learning by doing and problem- solving. Leadership building - focus on what we are trying to teach- the best way is when students "own" the issues & challenges and try to do something about it. Kuleana (i.e. The fight for more jobs, for better housing, for taking care of our environment, etc.) Creating the sense of ownership- kuleana and taking action (the activism). Standing up for what is right. Measure their success based on their leadership in understanding the needs and issues of their community and developing an education & career plan that would address the issues. (i.e. Students create a short essay - look at the extent to which issues were addressed). Life long learning - multi-generational opportunities- focus on observable behaviors with 2 or more generations working together on a planned activity. One person learns - students are working on a plan that extends into their next generation. (i.e. Developing a 5- 10- 20 yr. plan including education & career). Family engagement - consider a focus group or a survey from the families to see to what extent the project has allowed them to be more engaged in learning things together.