Our Bug List

Courtesy of http://www.ksbe.edu/images/v6/kapalama_aerial.jpg

Our Kapälama campus is so vast and there are so many opportunities for our group to make a difference! We've compiled just a few of our ideas here so you can get an idea of what we're thinking about.

1. Extend the benches and outdoor seating to the second floor of Konia (not very original, but very useful, if you see the number of people that hang out there in the mornings before school). 


2. Have our own “Pow Wow Kamehameha” and enlist the help of art teachers, students, and faculty to paint over graffiti, blank walls, and ugly or unattractive exterior surfaces with meaningful and tasteful art that (possibly) evokes emotion, political views, critical thinking, our heritage, or other local issues. This could bring our school together as a community and as artists with opinions. It could also have interchangable QR codes incorporated into the art that link to school sites or a good song that the user can listen to while passing by in the halls. ( See Pow Wow Hawaii's site: http://powwowhawaii.com/home/)

3. Help students get more organized by creating an efficient planner system (digital or tangible).
4. Build better bathroom stall doors that completely hide the person occupying the stall in order to avoid any awkward moments.
5. Building off of idea #4, create some sort of louder background noise (like air rushing or something, like in a home or office restroom) in order to cover up any unpleasant or awkward noises.
6. Organize student workshops afterschool or during lunch/homeroom periods so that students unable to take certain elective classes (i.e., Ceramics, Creative Metals and Glass, Printmaking) can learn and try something new. Even if they're not able to continually take the class, they can at least get a taste of what it's like.
7. Move the pool to the current construction site by Keku and place the future parking structure that they'll build where the pool is now so that way the pool doesn't crack or leak again in another five years.
8. Organize student-to-student days where high school students help incoming freshmen (current eighth graders) figure out what to take and what they should do their freshmen year. The current middle school counselors are not very adept at helping confused eighth graders figure out what to take and actually discourage them from aiming high from the very beginning.
9. Assemble a group of willing and capable tutors in the following subjects: Math (all levels), Physics, Economics, Hawaiian, Spanish, Japanese, and English. Create an organized system that helps students succeed, and chart the growth and grades.


10. Put some sort of shade over the pool so the students and swimmers who use the pool on a daily basis don’t have to risk some form of skin cancer. Although skin cancer is a long-term consequence, and may possibly be an exaggerated thing, it is a concern for the ones who use the pool everyday. They could also install sunscreen dispensers next to the pool for the people who need, but forgot. (This idea is actually very dorky I realize, but that’s okay)

11. Have some sort of social set-up on Konia Field (possibly including shade). It may make the field look more cluttered, but it’s a nice open space that both students and teachers could enjoy considering how big the field is.

Nikki talks about 'The Lorax'

Courtesy of http://elleswim.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/lorax.jpg

The 2012 remake of The Lorax by Universal Pictures was interesting, to say the least. I thought that it had a good message, but it failed to reflect Dr. Suess' nostalgic world of Truffla-truffs and thneeds in a way that the good doctor would have approved of. Parts of the movie felt clunky and a little too forced, but Zac Efron and Taylor Swift's voice acting made up for those awkward moments. I think the reason why Mr. Blake assigned this movie as our homework over Spring Break was because Ted, the young protagonist of the story, set out to accomplish something (find a real tree) in a shallow vein, but then he ended up truly caring about the environment and the trees. I would venture that Mr. Blake identifies us with Ted, and this is all a subliminal message assuring us that we will end up caring about our "Making Kamehameha A Better Place" projects. Rest assured, I have great confidence that his prediction will come true— it did when we launched (no pun intended) our Water Bottle Rocket project last quarter. I also think this was a way for us to 'get in the spirit' of things and encourage us to be part of the solution. As the Lorax says, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

First Group Post: Our Thoughts & Outlook On The Project

Team SupahBad Physics: Kenny, Rachelle, and Nikki

New blog, new first post. When we discussed our ideas in class today, we came to the conclusion that this project will actually be a good opportunity to express and find a solution to a problem that touches our lives on a daily basis. Immediately after discussing what the project was about and its expectations, our group brainstormed ideas about what we wanted to see improved in school. Although some ideas proved more difficult in finding an immediate solution than others, it was good to know that we were on the right track— our ideas ranged from artsy (painting over unattractive graffiti or wall space with tasteful and innovative student art) to quirky (building better bathroom stall doors— the current doors in certain bathrooms have way too much space in between hinges, effectively revealing the person inside and creating an awkward situation). Hey, you’ve got to think of everything, right? We would hate to overlook something that everyone faces on a daily basis but doesn’t think much of improving.
We are excited for this project because we feel that if we want to see something improved or changed in this school, this is our time to do it. We have lots of hope that whatever our project turns out to be will be the best. :)