Happy Presidents’ (Washington’s Birthday) Day y’all. I have the day off and am busy poke-ing it up in Hilo, but thought that this story would be a good read for those of you who are still checkin’ on in today.
My friend and classmate from high school (Roslyn Kanae) is the Tech Coordinator at Honowai Elementary School. She shared a story about some of her students, known as the Honowai Robotek Team, making a difference in their community. Check out their story and I’ll meetcha at the bottom:
Honowai Elementary School is located on Honowai Street in the Ewa end of Waipahu. It services 824 students, grades preschool through 6th. Many of our students walk to school due to working parents. Six years ago, our principal and vice-principal met with the Department of Transportation to resolve the issue of speeding cars in front of the school. (Honowai Street is a busy road that leads into Fort Weaver Road before it joins with H2.) This meeting resulted in having two bright yellow pedestrian signs posted at the crosswalks fronting the school.
For the past two years, students at Honowai Elementary School have studied the traffic patterns fronting Honowai Street. Students have clocked cars going 5-10 miles over the speed limit in front of Honowai before, after, and during school hours.
Students have also interviewed faculty and community members about the speeding issue. Some nearby residents have seen many near- misses between speeding cars and students. Speeding cars injured three students during the past five years. No residents can recall ever seeing a police car ticketing cars for speeding down this busy thoroughfare. There are currently no posted signs to remind drivers that an elementary school is present; only the signs for pedestrian crossings and one 25 miles per hour speed limit sign.
To help slow the traffic fronting Honowai Street, the Honowai Robotek Team proposes that the two lane road be restriped to visually narrow the road and posting signs with flashing lights to remind drivers that children are present. They are also recommending that police cars monitor Honowai Street more frequently during school hours.
The students have presented their suggestions to Councilman Nestor Garcia, Representative Henry Aquino, Senator Clarence Nishihara, the Waipahu Community Neighborhood Board, and forty families from Honowai Elementary School. On February 12, 2010, the student members of the Honowai Robotek Team presented their findings at the 2010 S.M.A.R.T. Youth Summit held at Leeward Community College. The Honowai Robotek Team is also currently drafting a resolution for the Waipahu Neighborhood Community Board to approve at the February 25th meeting. The resolution, like their presentation, is completely student written. This is the most comprehensive traffic safety project ever undertaken by students at Honowai Elementary.
The members of the Honowai Robotek Team are sixth graders: Francis Camama, Abigail Aguada, Ray Anne Galzote, Cyndie Rayoan, Breana Domingo, Crystopher Mendoza, Katherine Piniol, Lourdes Dela Cruz, and 5th grader Sherrie Gracie. The coaches are Kawika Davis, Grant Kiyabu, Roslyn Kanae, and Rainard Mineshima.
Pretty impressive yeah? Our young keiki making a difference! Congrats Honowai Elementary! Keep it up gang!
Post your words of encouragement below if you gotum! Have a great week y’all!
World Wide Ed 