Ka Malu o Kaimana Hila

Thank you to all of our families who participated in our first COVID surveillance testing day on Thursday, September 2, 2021. Waikiki School is a participant in Operation Expanded Testing, a federal initiative to offer free COVID tests to staff and families through a one-time consent registration form.

According to Kara Gormont, School Testing Project Director for the Hawai’i Department of Health, the PerkinElmer New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit is the most sensitive test detecting as low as 180 NDU/mL (NAAT Detectable Units/mL). This is the test currently being put into use for our surveillance testing at the school.

Kara Gormont also stated that "rapid PCR tests in the community [are] tests known to be much less sensitive and are known to sometimes result in “false-negatives.” The DOH requests that individuals testing positive do not repeat tests to validate the findings as this decreases available scarce resources within the community. There is no mechanism to re-test out of isolation.

Asymptomatic testing will find people who are positive and thus will inevitably increase our case count numbers.

Our next testing day is Thursday, September 9, 2021. If you already registered your child, you do not have to register again. If you would like to have your child participate and have not registered, please go to https://home.color.com/covid/sign-up/start?partner=HHS-WaikikiElementary-44-Adult-Students

If you previously registered your child for surveillance testing, and would like to rescind your consent, please email me at ryan@waikikischool.org with your name and your child's full name and grade.

Parent notification letters are the mechanism to inform the school community of positive cases. No additional information will be shared for privacy reasons. The Department of Health is the lead agency regarding contact tracing. Any questions or concerns that you have with this, the DOH asks that you go to https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/contact-us/

Waikiki School does not have a school-based option for total distance learning. Please contact me via email if you have any further questions regarding this matter.

I know that these are challenging times full of stress and anxiety. Our amazing staff of teachers and support personnel are giving their all to provide the best possible educational experience in spite of everything that is happening in our community. Thank you for sharing your aloha with all of us here at the Mindful School.

Sincerely,

Ryan Kusuda

Principal

This month we focus on another one of Dr. Art Costa's Habits of Mind: Problem Solving (Questioning and Problem Posing). Identifying and understanding problems, creatively coming up with solutions to these problems, and also reflecting upon and critiquing these solutions are all key aspects of problem solving. Students at Waikīkī School also observed that thoughtfully working together is an essential part of problem solving:

“ ‘Good’ problem solvers are persistent, kind, and will try to solve any problem. They have a growth and problem solving mindset and will work with people to solve problems.” -4th Grade Student

Students at Waikīkī School, through their practice of Habits of Mind and Philosophy for Children (p4c), learn to listen with empathy, appreciate differing points of view, practice inquiry and wonderment, and view challenges and failures as opportunities for growth. These qualities empower our students to be persistent problem solvers and equip our mindful school community to work together in order to address the complex problems of today.

For more information on the Habits of Mind, please visit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BxFxaJCuSTrwVdnB0W9KtBkEBPU8u5gqucxq9-TUUIc/edit?usp=sharing

For families planning on travel, please note that Governor Ige issued a statement on August 23, 2021 urging Hawaii residents to delay non-essential travel.

Here are some excerpts:

On August 23, Gov. David Ige called upon Hawaii residents and visitors to delay all non-essential travel through the end of October 2021 due to the recent, accelerated surge in COVID-19 cases that is now overburdening the state’s health care facilities and resources.

Gov. Ige made the announcement at a media briefing, noting that, “Our hospitals are reaching capacity and our ICUs are filling up. Now is not a good time to travel to Hawaii.”

Gov. Ige added, “It will take six to seven weeks to see significant change in the number of COVID cases. It is a risky time to be traveling right now. Everyone, residents and visitors alike, should reduce travel to essential business activities only.”

Dr. Elizabeth Char, director of the Department of Health, emphasized the urgency of the current situation. “The surge of COVID cases is mainly due to community spread, followed by residents flying to hotspot areas abroad and bringing COVID back into their households and community,” Char said. “If things do not change, our health care systems will be crippled and those needing medical care for all types of diseases, injuries and conditions, including our visitors, may find it difficult to get the treatment they need right away.”

If your family is still planning on traveling, despite the Governorʻs plea, please notify Waikīkī School of your out-of-state travel plans including your departure date from Honolulu, travel destination, and your return date. Understand that as of this bulletin, your child will have to comply with providing both a negative pre-travel COVID test as a part of the State's Safe Travels Program AND a post-travel negative COVID test per DOE guidelines for unvaccinated students. Per CDC guidance, Waikīkī School will ask that this second test take place 3-5 days after travel.

See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html

The Federal Impact Aid Program Survey is designed to assist local school districts who have lost revenue due to Federal properties exemption from local property taxes. Financial assistance is determined by calculating the concentration of students who reside on military bases, low-rent housing properties, Indian lands, and other Federal properties, have parents in the uniformed services, or have parents employed on eligible Federal properties.

In Hawai‘i, Federal Impact Aid helps offset costs for school materials and resources, substitute teachers, student transportation, school utilities such as electricity, and other services at schools statewide. All students and schools benefit from Impact Aid.

Please be sure to return these cards back to school the very next day you receive them.

For more information, please see

https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ParentsAndStudents/MilitaryFamilies/Pages/About-Impact-Aid.aspx

CALLING ALL CULINARY SUPERSTARS!

SUBMIT YOUR ORIGINAL RECIPE BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

GRADES 4-8

First Place – Culinary Kit valued at $300

Second Place – Culinary Kit valued at $200

Third Place – Culinary Kit valued at $100

The Hawaii Gas Presents Localicious® Recipe Contest is a fun cooking competition where kids compete by submitting an original recipe using a locally-grown, raised or caught product, bonus points for using fresh Dole pineapple fruit! A panel of judges review the recipes and select the top three (3) recipes from two grade categories: Grades 4-8 and 9-12. The six (6) finalists will be invited to cook live in front of three celebrity chef judges and Adam Richman at HMAA Presents Keiki in the Kitchen® on Sunday, October 24.

If you are interested in using fruits or vegetables from our food farm, here are items that you can ask for.

Possible Vegetables in October

Already planted:

bok choy

corn

daikon

eggplant

green pepper

Toscano kale

Red Russian kale

green curly kale

collard green

swiss chard

green beans

green onion

butterfly pea flower

italian parsley

cilantro

sage

tarragon

cuban oregano

mint

sweet basil

thai basil

bay leaf

kaffir lime leaves

butterfly pea flower

Fruits in October

starfruit

avocado

papaya

lemon

lime

orange

grapefruit

chikoo fruit

banana

coconut

Submissions will be accepted through this online entry form between August 20 through September 30, 2021. Limit one (1) entry per person.

Submission form can be downloaded HERE and:

• Emailed to: contest@hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com by September 30, 2021 by 11:59 PM HST.
• Mailed to (must be received by September 30, 2021)
  Hawaii Food & Wine Festival
  Localicious Recipe Contest
  3538 Waialae Ave. #202
  Honolulu, HI 96816

CONTEST RULES:

Recipe must include at least one locally-grown, caught or raised ingredient.

• Dish must be an ORIGINAL recipe — we want your own creative dish, not one from a published source
• Dish must be SIMPLE — maximum of 10 ingredients and 10 steps
• Be HEALTHY — vegetables, fruits, whole grains and/or lean proteins must make up at least half of the recipe
• Be DELICIOUS — keep it fresh, simple and yummy
• Be AFFORDABLE — no fancy ingredients needed
• Be MEANINGFUL — tell us the story of how you came up with your dish
• Optional — include fresh Dole pineapple fruit in original recipe

Email: ryan@waikikischool.org
Website: waikikischool.org
Location: 3710 Leahi Avenue, Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone: (808) 971-6900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaikikiSchool
Twitter: @WaikikiSchool