Home Care In Waipahu, HI

A cohort of 13 students from Waipahu High School’s ?Ohana of Excellence Academy (OEA) made history as the first special education class in the Hawai?i State Department of Education to earn college credit through an Early College course. Their achievement was celebrated on campus after completing a mock job interview as their final project.

“It’s very important that we offer this to our students in the ?Ohana of Excellence Academy so that they have the same opportunity as everyone else. And now we’re proud to say that every single academy on our campus has early college opportunities for their students,” said Principal Zachary Sheets.

The students are enrolled in a fully self-contained special education classroom that supports individuals with substantial disabilities and requiring assistance. In spite of the considerable challenges they encounter, the students finished IS 105C: Professional Employment Preparation in person at Windward Community College — a course aimed at developing practical employment skills and boosting confidence.

Director of the OEA, Eunice Fukunaga, was instrumental in bringing the college-level course to her students, for whom the goal is to obtain full-time employment. “That’s why we thought this course through Windward Community College would be perfect, because it’s professional employment preparation,” explained Fukunaga.

Waipahu High is a nationally recognized wall-to-wall academy high school, distinguished by the highest level of national recognition for its six career academies. The mission of the OEA is to empower students to take charge of their futures and become active members of their communities.

“When you saw the students’ parents tearing up because their students are going to have this opportunity, I think you know how special it is,” said Principal Sheets. “Breaking stereotypes and barriers are just the next steps to show them that it is possible.”

When the Waipahu High School class of 2025 gathered for their graduation ceremony at the Stan Sheriff Center this week, 10 of the students wore medals among their academic regalia indicating their proficiency in what is commonly referred to in Hawai?i as Pidgin English.

The Seal of Biliteracy for Hawai?i Creole, as it is properly termed, was offered for the first time this year to students in Hawai?i public schools. To qualify for a Seal of Biliteracy, a student must demonstrate proficiency in either English or Hawaiian and one other language.

In January, Waipahu Multi-Lingual Program Coordinator Jeremiah Brown put out the word about Hawaii Creole being included in the languages for which students could earn a Seal of Biliteracy. First, though, Brown consulted school Registrar Steve Miyashiro and registrar clerk Lani Bayudan for help in writing the school announcement in Pidgin for the daily bulletin:

“Sup Seniors! Pidgin stay one reckanized language fo’ Da Seal of Biliteracy now, li’dat.

Howz dat? Pretty mean, ah? Da Seal of Biliteracy is one mayjah honor fo’ high school grads who can talk and write English and Pidgin read shmood, you know da kine?

But eh, make shua you meet one of da English requirements fo’ take da test in Pidgin, Rajah dat? If you do killahz on da test, you gon get one cherreh medal fo’ wear at graduation! Yo’ maddah and faddah, and choke oddah people gon’ be shmall kine proud, ah!?!

Yessuh, show dem you one hammah!”

Student Cara Jurison heard the announcement in school that morning. “I didn’t think it was real, actually,” she said.

Jurison, who will attend the University of Oregon in the fall, found out it was indeed a real thing, and signed up to take the test. She was already planning to take the biliteracy test for Korean, which is taught at Waipahu High School.

Pidgin English, or Hawaii Creole, is described by the University of Hawai?i Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole, and Dialect Studies as the common language that arose out of the need for immigrants from different countries to communicate in Hawaii’s sugar industry starting in the late 1800s:

“Children learned their parents’ languages and picked up English at school. But the kind of English they spoke on the playground was influenced by the Pidgin English earlier brought to Hawai’i, by the Hawaiian spoken by their parents, and by their own first languages, especially Portuguese. By the turn of the century a new Hawai‘i Pidgin English began to emerge with features from all of these sources. This pidgin became the primary language of many of those who grew up in Hawai’i, and children began to acquire it as their first language. This was the beginning of Hawai’i Creole English. By the 1920s it was the language of the majority of Hawai’i’s population.”

These days, though, there are so many other influences on the way Hawai?i students speak.

“We grew up around it, but we don’t really use it that much,” said Amore Laney, who will be attending UH M?noa in the fall with a plan to major in business.

“I listen to my dad speak,” said Jyliann Teocson, who will attend the University of San Francisco to major in biology with a focus on pre-med. She also plans to study business because her goal is to open a medical clinic.

Several of the Waipahu students who signed up to take the Hawai?i Creole test formed a study group to prepare.

“Sometimes we looked up words on Google. And my Dad had an old Pidgin book,” Laney said.

The test was administered by Avant Assessment, part of a number of proficiency tests available for languages not commonly taught in high schools. The exam involves writing and speaking, and was taken on computers in the school library.

“It was basically all of us in the library whispering into mics,” Laney said.

One part of the test involved prompts in English that the students had to respond to in Hawai?i Creole. Examples of prompts they had to write about were “a memorable event in childhood” or “what is something that you cherish?”

Some students wrote their responses in English first and then translated it into Pidgin, for example, substituting “da” for “the” and “dakine” if they didn’t know a specific word.

“While I took the test, I would ask myself, ‘What would my uncle say?’” Jurison said.

The total number of graduating students who were awarded the Seal of Biliteracy in Hawai?i Creole this year is not yet available. Last year, the Department of Education awarded Seals of Biliteracy to graduating seniors in Hawai?i high schools in 28 different languages: American Sign Language, Arabic, Bisaya/Visayan, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chuukese, Dutch, English, French, German, ??lelo Hawai?i, Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Kosraean, Mandarin, Marshallese, Pangasinan, Pohnpeian, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Yapese.

In years past, Waipahu has successfully lobbied to add several more languages, including Pangasinan, Tongan and Itawis, a language spoken in a small area of the Northern Philippines.

In order to qualify to take the biliteracy test, a student must have a GPA of 3.0 or better in English classes or score an 18 or higher on the English section of the ACT. At Waipahu this year, 125 students will graduate with a Seal of Biliteracy representing 13 different languages. Many of the languages are home languages for the students.

A Seal of Biliteracy is more than another honor to wear during graduation. Some colleges give credit for knowing a world language or will allow the student to start language classes at a higher level. The Seal is a note to future employers that the student can communicate in more than one language.

“And it’s a source of pride for the families,” Brown said.

Laney and Teocson described traveling to Japan on an exchange program and teaching basic Pidgin terms to Japanese students, which delighted their hosts.

“We taught them to say ‘Howzit’ for hello,” Laney said.

“And told them to loosen their shaka,” Teocson added.

“We taught them ‘shoots’ for goodbye. And also k-dens,” Laney said.

This term is new to my ears. In my day, it was ‘kay den’, as in “OK, then.” I ask if k-dens is always spelled with an s. The girls laugh and correct my Pidgin. “It’s spelled with a z.”

k-denz.

“You see?” Brown said. “Pidgin is evolving.”

In generations past, Hawai?i Creole speakers fought against the stigma of speaking non-standard English and the assumptions about the intelligence of Pidgin speakers. It seems Pidgin is evolving in many ways.

The Seals of Biliteracy were among many other marks of academic honor the students wore at their graduation. All three were valedictorians.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

A cohort of 13 students from Waipahu High School’s ?Ohana of Excellence Academy made history as the first special education class in the Hawai?i State Department of Education to earn college credit through an Early College course. Their achievement was celebrated on campus after they completed their final project — a mock job interview.

Principal Zachary Sheets remarked at the certificate ceremony, “It’s very important that we offer this to our students in the ?Ohana of Excellence Academy so that they have the same opportunity as everyone else. And now we’re proud to say that every single academy on our campus has early college opportunities for their students.”

The students are part of a fully self-contained special education classroom (FSC), serving learners with significant disabilities and support needs. Despite the intensive challenges they face, the students completed IS 105C: Professional Employment Preparation in person through Windward Community College — a course designed to build real-world employment skills and confidence.

“So these students, the goal for them is to obtain full-time employment. And so that’s why we thought this course through Windward Community College would be perfect because it’s professional employment preparation,” explained Eunice Fukunaga, director of ?Ohana of Excellence Academy, who was instrumental in bringing the college-level course to her students.

“They take the knowledge and the skills that they learn like resume building, interview skills, and actually use those skills to go out and seek employment.”

The class met twice a week in-person at Waipahu High, so partnering with the right college was key to the program’s success. “We are always very excited to collaborate with our partners to try new things in support of student success. Our goal for our early college program is access and opportunity for all of our local students,” said Jennifer Brown, vice chancellor of student affairs, Windward Community College (WCC).

Inspired by Waipahu’s milestone, WCC plans to expand the program next year at Kailua High’s FSC Ready to Surf Academy. Two courses will be offered throughout the year.

Two Waipahu High students, Ikaika Roby and Lloyd Cabutaje, already have job offers lined up — one at McDonald’s, another at Aloun Farms — ready to start after graduation.

Ikaika Roby said he was honored to be a part of this groundbreaking accomplishment. “And I was thankful, respectful. Being respected by everyone is a good thing. I’m honored for everything they did for me.”

Asked about how his interview went for his first job, Ikaika responded, “My interview for McDonald’s was great. It went well. And I was hired. For everything I did, yeah, I was actually hired.”

Lloyd Cabutaje secured a job right down the street at Aloun Farms. He beamed as he reflected, “My experience is the people over here is, like, good, like family.” He then added about his instructor, “Mr. Ganigan is a good teacher. Their class helps me look for a job. It helps me for the resume, everything.”

It was not just the students who felt proud about their accomplishments. Janick Enchi, whose son Will completed the program, expressed, “I’m very proud of Waipahu High School and the Department of Education, as well as my son, for the support, dedication, and all that that has been poured into the program.

“It just brings tears of joy to me and my wife. She was with me on the phone watching the whole ceremony and she was just crying because it’s something that, you know, words can never express.”

Waipahu High is a nationally recognized wall-to-wall academy high school, holding the highest level of national recognition for its six career academies. The ‘Ohana Academy’s mission is to empower students to own their futures and become active members of their communities.

“When you saw the students’ parents tearing up because their students are going to have this opportunity. I think you know how special it is,” said Sheets. Breaking stereotypes and barriers is just the next step to “show them that it is possible.”