Every grade school kid loves field trips. It's a chance for them to stretch out physically and intellectually beyond the confines of a stuffy classroom. And much like traveling abroad, learning in the great outdoors is positive and productive time spent educating our Keiki.
My 7 year old daughter Kayla was nice enough to volunteer me as an adult chaperone on a 4/23 excursion for her second grade class at Kipapa Elementary School in Mililani. Any time spent with my kids is treasured time, but I was especially excited about going on this trip with her because the entire Grade 2 class would be going on a daytime reef walk at Maili Beach Park on Oahu's beautiful west side. I was eager to see the kids do some hands on learning in the ocean and I was equally curious about Maili because I'd never really stopped there to have a look around an suss it out. I'll go surf Makaha on occasion and I always peer over at the Maili Point on the way up north on Farrington Highway.
Excitement, anticipation, and last minute logistics before we head out to the buses
A damper, quite literally, hung over the day of the field trip because of the threat of heavy rains and flooding. But under a dark and cloudy sky we boarded the buses on schedule and headed for the beach.
We arrived and unloaded the buses under a light sprinkle, but it looked like it would hold
The parents were assembled for a schedule and safety briefing. The teachers did a terrific job keeping everything and everyone organized, moving along, and fun for everyone.
Once the kids were liberated from the buses, one group started doing sand sculptures and the other began their reef walk and observation and collection of ocean creatures. The kids were jumping out of their skins and we parents had as much, if not more fun watching them have fun. On occasion, you'd hear the kids let out a cheer as a parent found a squishy sea cucumber, prickly urchin, scurrying crab, or a cool looking fish. Parents and teachers took time to explain the species and importance of the creatures they found and the message to the kids was to respect the reef , return the animals to the water unharmed, and to leave the reef in the state that they had found it.
The very eager to learn L2 second grade class from Kipapa Elementary School.
My daughter Kayla loves the ocean; swimming, surfing, and spelunking tidepools for critters.
The kids started the day in doing fun sand sculptures. Its amazing how imaginative they can be. This is a Maili Beach Starfish.
Soon it was our turn in the water and the kids searched every corner and crevice looking for sea life they could see and touch.
The ever present black sea urchin, or Wana. I told the kids that this animal was a food staple for the ancient Hawaiians, and it's innards and eggs a rich source of protein. They were grossed out!
This blue pincher crab was not as happy as we were that he was put into a bucket. It's aggressiveness and brilliant coloring drew many ooh's and ahh's from kids and parents alike.
Lots to do, plenty to see, and a great experience for all who were there.
It was fun and educational day for all!!!
The importance of Hawaii's future generations learning and exercising respect and care for the ocean and marine life cannot be overstated. School field trips like this reef walk do volumes to instill and reinforce these critical values in them at a very young age. I don't think they could have fully appreciated the ocean environment and it's amazing inhabitants by reading about them in a book or watching a program on TV. Mahalo to the grade two teachers of Kipapa Elementary School for a fun and educational day in the best classroom there is; our ocean.
