Our community-based stream health monitoring and management initiative focuses on improving the quality of and care for the 3 waters of Pālolo, Mānoa, and Makiki- that flow into the Ala Wai. Led by UH stream biologist Cory Yap, and place & project-based educator, Andi Charuk, Paʻēpaʻē o Waikolu partners with dozens of schools per year to prepare K-12 students to conduct real field surveys that contribute fish population and biodiversity data to a public database used by researchers, government agencies, and our own partner students to advance the knowledge of and care for our native migratory animals. Data cataloguing the animals inhabiting our urban waterways can tell students a lot about the overall health of our watershed, and give them pathways towards further investigation, improved care, and public advocacy. 

From their time in partnership with us, we hope students... 

• begin to grasp the significance and preciousness of our wai

• form foundational pilina with Hawaiʻi’s unique streams and stream fauna

• become equipped with the confidence, content knowledge, and field skills necessary to generate real data for monitoring fish populations and stream health

• recognize the potential for scientific practice to be rooted in aloha and mālama ʻāina/wai 

• feel encouraged to ask hard questions about the future of watershed health in urban Honolulu

• become active caretakers and advocates for our kahawai and their inhabitants

• visualize college and career pathways in this important work

Does this type of learning experience align with your teaching philosophy and the goals or content standards of your curriculum this year?

please see the calendar below for openings and continue to scroll for our registration form

Registration

*Registration Disclaimer

Due to cutbacks in our calendar capacity as well as current grant cycle objectives, we've tried to create clear guidelines to govern equitable and fair partnership limitations. Each of our designated stream sites must be surveyed 2x per year and sites with high levels of invasives must be surveyed 4x per year. Each site is appropriate for a specific group age and size range. This works out to us having room for roughly 40-45 groups on our calendar per academic year. We receive requests from ~60. Therefore, we will register partnerships in waves based on the following priorities...  

1. geography: those schools in the Ala Wai Watershed to whom these streams are home--roughly McKinley and Stevenson representing the western most edge and Wai'alae El and La Pietra representing the eastern edge. Highest priority given to title 1 schools and schools relying on this field experience as one component of a broader enduring stewardship learning project.

2. PBL: those long time partners outside of Ala Wai watershed who have come to rely on this survey as an integral part of their place/project-based curriculum or enduring stewardship learning projects/units in their place.

3.  Site data need- Those schools existing outside of geographic area whose group age and size suits one of the sites that we have a harder time finding groups to survey. (ex:groups of ≤ 30 ms, hs, & uni age)

If your group is represented by the parameters above, we encourage you to complete the registration form!

If your group does NOT fall under any of the priority groups listed above, it is not likely we'll be able to accommodate a partnership with you this year. You are welcome to contact Andi at acharuk@iolani.org to discuss further and be placed on the waitlist. See our “Hoʻokahe Wai Fellows” page for more info on how we are striving to support increased student access to stream monitoring in their own streams in the near future.

*FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE* In order to honor the need to partner with schools as widely as possible, we will no longer be registering multiple grade levels (elem) or multiple content areas(HS) from any one school unless they work with us as a single combined group of a size that fits at the stream site appropriate to the age group of the youngest members. Ex: A complex area could register 1 grade level in elementary, one team (≤ 100 students) in middle school, and one teacherʻs line (≤ 100 students) in high school, but not two from any one school in the complex. Please discuss with your colleagues to ensure your school is mindful of this change. 

Please use the form below to register interest in partnering with us this year!   

  If the form appears as a blank box, it usually means we are at capacity and have closed registration for the year. Feel free to email Andi at acharuk@iolani.org with any registration issues or questions. 

For more programmatic info, watch this quick overview video here

For more logistical info on how the lessons work, please see our "Lesson Sequence Guide" here.

As recipients of NOAA-BWET funding, we encourage our partner teachers to access these Meaningful Watershed Education Experience (MWEE) resources and consider using your field experience with us to launch an "enduring stewardship project" in your place.