THE ART OF LEARNING

Pomaikai teachers honored for incorporating the arts into everyday lessons

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer
WAILUKU

As a guidance counselor at the new Pomaikai Elementary School, Leni Tanaka delivers character education messages to students by using the arts.

“It’s just a different way of learning,” said Tanaka, a former English as a Second Language teacher who switched into the role of counselor at the beginning of the 2007-08 school year.

Like the rest of the staff at Pomaikai, Tanaka bought into Principal Rene Yamafuji’s idea to incorporate the arts into everyday learning, including daily counseling and other lessons.

Yamafuji said teachers use the arts in a number of ways to help learning, such as using drama to enhance reading comprehension or body movement to illustrate the concept of “rotate” in math.

Faculty also agreed to participate in workshops and other educational sessions that would help with how to teach core subjects such as reading and math by using the arts.

For the month of May, Tanaka is focusing on “caring,” talking with students about its importance, and using skits to engage them and affirm their understanding of the concept.

“Their energy is so much better if they are engaged, and using the arts seems to get them going and motivated,” Tanaka said.

“When you incorporate the arts, you see the students blossom and it’s very rewarding.”

Tanaka and 14 of her Pomaikai colleagues represented half of the 30 educators who were honored Saturday night at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center for actively pursuing education and training to use the arts in their work with children.

Yamafuji said her staff’s participation in workshops and other educational sessions has paid off.

“I have seen the teachers practicing and using the arts in their classrooms,” she said. “I also see the students and how happy they are to come to school. Not every person is happy every time, but we do see the arts making a difference.”

Since 1995, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center and the state Department of Education Maui District Office have been participants in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ program “Partners in Education.”

The program has been offering professional development workshops and summer institutes that focus on teaching in, through and about the arts. Kamehameha Schools Maui is also a partner, having joined the program in 2001.

The classes for the teachers (most of them at Maui’s public schools) are aligned with the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, and include creating, performing, exhibiting and responding to art. For every 32 hours of course work completed in a two-year period, teachers earn a Certificate of Study Award. Educators who complete more than 380 hours are recognized as Master Arts Integration Teachers.

“Our goal is to educate the ‘whole child,’ and help every child find success in learning,” said MACC President and Chief Executive Officer Karen A. Fischer. “We applaud these teachers, and the artist-mentors who work alongside them. They give their time and energy into learning new classroom skills to integrate the arts into teaching all subjects, so that their students can be well-prepared with what they need as citizens in this century.”

Prior to the annual Teachers Awards Program, the MACC held an opening reception for its latest art exhibit: “Natural Ground: The Intentions of Three.” The artists featured are Lynne Gilroy of Maui, Linda Kane of Oahu and Randy Takaki of the Big Island. Their show in the Schaefer International Gallery at the MACC runs through June 15.

All three artists encouraged and praised the Maui educators for integrating the arts into their classrooms.

Kane, who works as a drawing and painting instructor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said her most enthusiastic teachers have been those who shared a love for the arts.

She shared with Saturday’s audience the joys she’s had as an art instructor for 20 years and most recently with a legally blind student. “I really salute you, and I know you’ll do a wonderful job,” Kane said.

• Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.