Kona Pacific Public Charter School was founded on a commitment to bringing an alternative education to the children and families of Kona. Our curriculum weaves together Waldorf education, Hawaiian Cultural Studies and Agricultural Studies. Each student at Kona Pacific is inspired to a high level of academic excellence, enthusiasm for learning, a healthy self-awareness, interest and concern for others, and respect for the natural world.

Kona Pacific’s 6,000 square foot school garden, developed by the community in our first school year (2008-2009), plays an integral part in Kona Pacific’s educational program. The life-sustaining practices of farming and gardening are a vital part of Hawai’i Island life and culture. Agricultural and environmental studies are therefore integral to our place-based education and are woven into our curriculum throughout the elementary and middle school.

Kona Pacific students work in the school gardens at least twice per week. The work in the garden echoes and builds on what happens in the classroom. While out in the sunshine, the students are applying what they’ve learned in math, science, reading and social studies in a hands-on way, while also learning practical life skills like physical education, healthy nutrition, teamwork, perseverance and personal responsibility. There is much work to be done in the garden and the students take part in every aspect of it, from digging new beds, planting, weeding, and daily composting to harvesting, cooking and preparing the imu for the Earthday celebration. 

Through this work, they gain a deeper understanding of agricultural and environmental studies and they experience the challenges and rewards of sustainable stewardship of the land. The students’ work in the school gardens inspires reverence for the land and provides invaluable opportunities for the children to experience wonder in nature. Once they have made that connection with the land, the children are conscious of the impact of their life choices, and their respect for the natural world grows. As they witness the transformative powers and cycles of life in the natural world their reverence and respect for the natural world grows. This is the first step in showing the students some of the reasons to care for and to advocate for the natural world around them.

In addition, the garden plays an important role in our recycling program, processing all the compostable waste that we produce. Each day, the students bring the day’s compost to the school garden and learn the awe-inspiring process of creating rich soil from food scraps. Through actively recycling and composting, the school has been able to limit landfill waste to less than one trashcan per day! 

Each member of our Kona Pacific community has an impact on the garden, each in our own way caring for our land that produces the food that nourishes us. Working together as a community, each grade and each student within that grade, takes on what they are able to do in the garden, over the years becoming more capable of sustained and focused work. Each child has a place in the garden and each gives what he or she can to care for the land and the community.

For more information, contact Ananda Truilzi.