Bot Made Bragging Rights and Other Technology News in Hawaii Schools

In the past year or so, Islandwide popular opinion of the general condition of public school education is in the pits. Parents are distraught over the effect furlough Fridays will have on their kids and lawmakers are in a jam about how to solve state budget problems. The future kind of looks dim for quality education in Hawaii but alas, there is a glimmer of hope! Check out how these tech-savvy schools are projecting a bright future for our keiki.

Robot News

Isolated on one side by enchanting Kaiena Point and on the other by Haleiwa, a comparatively bustling vacation destination, Waialua is known as a quiet, sleepy town on the edge of the northshore tucked away from anything big city. That is, until last week when four teenagers from Waialua High School joined forces with two mainland teams to capture the top prize at the Indiana Robotics Invitational on July 17th in Indianapolis. The Indiana Robotics Invitational is a soccer-style tournament and Waialua’s robot, Poi Pounder X was a top scorer. Waialua High School isn’t the only robotics team from Hawaii scoring big at international robotics competitions.

A team of five students from Hanalani School in Mililani crushed competitors on July 11th at the International Botball Tournament held in Edwardsville, Illinois. At a competition held recently in Hawaii, the Team’s robot set a national record as the highest scorer during the seeding rounds proving to be the bot to beat.

Maunawili Elementary School

Students at Maunawili Elementary school on the windward side of the island will get to enjoy cutting edge technology in every classroom this coming semester.

Maunawili Elementary school used their annual “technology fundraiser” to purchase touch-screen SMART boards to replace traditional whiteboards for each of their classrooms. The forward thinking school hopes to get their students comfortable with new technology in order to prepare their students for a high-tech future without paper and pencils.

‘Ewa Makai Middle School

Still under construction and expected to open doors in September, ‘Ewa Makai Middle School will be the first “green” campus in Hawaii. In order to be ‘green’ the school will be built as one all inclusive building sans open-air walkways, a familiar feature at every other Hawaii school. Like Maunawili Elementary School, ‘Ewa Makai will have a touch-screen SMART board in each of the new air-conditioned classrooms. Also, the school is hoping to have one computer available for each student enrolled at the school as well as incorporate other innovative technology such as Apple iPads into the classrooms.

Hawaii State Public School Assessment

According to the Hawaii State Department of Education assessment of Public School students released July 15th, students are more proficient in math and reading tests this year as compared to previous years. Student reading proficiency is at 67%, and math proficiency is at 49%.