Inspired by Polynesian voyaging and founded by Nainoa Thompson and Robert Witt, Mālama Honua Public Charter School opened its doors to serve Waimānalo in 2014. Mālama Honua is a Hawaiian culture based public charter school whose mission is to create leaders who embody the attributes of the Mind of the Navigator and the values embodied by the Hōkūleʻa World Wide Voyage. The Mind of the Navigator envisions the development of learners who can set, plot, and successfully navigate the many voyages they will have in life while being grounded and confident in their cultural identity.
Reflection from an MHPCS 8th Grader:
First of all I'd like to say I really enjoyed it, learned much, and am grateful for the experience. From learning new things and to building on what I knew, it was all pretty interesting. If I'm being entirely honest at first I didn't care to go all that much. What probably caught my interest was the fact we learned for the most part through action which is something that I believe sorely lacks in the school system. For example , I could not tell you a thing that I learned even from this school year, let alone before that , my brain filtered them out as not important. But for some reason I can remember the process of planting the dry land kalo in 7th grade, how a wa’a operates from 6th grade and those times we went sailing. I can remember how to lash and remember the first time we learned to make ti leaf lei. I don't think that that's some coincidence and I believe this is one of those experiences I will likely not forget.