MON / TUE / THU / FRI SCHEDULE
02:05-02:15 = Attendance & Snack (All students check in @ Rm 22)
02:20-02:50 = Hula class: Hula I
= Homework & Activities: Hula II & Hula III students
02:55-03:25 = Hula class: Hula II
= Homework & Activities: Hula I & Hula III students
03:30-04:00 = Hula class: Hula III
= Homework & Activities: Hula I & Hula II students
04:00-04:30 = Outdoor Play- All (Ewa Play Structure / Side Field)
04:30-05:30 = Choice of Indoor or Outdoor Play - All
(Rm 22 or Diamond Head Play Structures / Big Field)
EARLY-RELEASE WEDNESDAY^ SCHEDULE
12:40-12:50 = Attendance & Snack (All students check in @ Rm 22)
12:50-01:20 = Hula class: Hula I
= Homework & Activities: Hula II & Hula III students
01:25-01:55 = Hula class: Hula II
= Homework & Activities: Hula I & Hula III students
02:00-02:30 = Hula class: Hula III
= Homework & Activities: Hula I & Hula II students
02:30-03:00 = Outdoor Play - ALL (Big Field)
03:00-04:00 = Opt-In: Cooking (Rm 22) or Sports (Basketball Courts)
04:00-05:30 = Choice of Indoor or Outdoor - All (Rm 22 or Playground)
Every day, students have homework help, indoor activities, and outdoor fun before and after each group's hula. Homework is mandatory, after which, students can choose from our many toys, crafts, puzzles, board games, books, and other indoor activity options they can do individually or in groups (e.g. Legos, art, chess, card matches, creative play, etc.). We also have chromebooks for PCHES-approved sites/games only.
We encourage all the students to play outdoors every day as much as possible. Out on the different grassy fields, we vary their activity options with students being able to choose from different outdoor games/toys (fort-building kits, kites, jump rope, staff-led recess/camp type games, etc.) or different sports (e.g. soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, pickleball, hockey, etc.). We are also lucky enough to be able to use the PCHES playground structures every day, which the kids absolutely love.
To keep things dynamic and fun, we go straight to the source and ask the kids what they're interested in or curious about -- whether it's drawing Sanrio, or doing magic tricks, or learning to juggle or hit a baseball. And between all the great junior leaders who volunteer weekly, coupled with our program tenet that we are all hula brothers and sisters, we aim for an environment of family and fun throughout.
Our after school program (currently at 110+ students) is split into three rotating activity groups -- Hula I (K, 1st, and new-to-the-program 2nd graders), Hula II (veteran 2nd and 3rd graders), and Hula III (4th to 6th graders). While hula is only 30 min. of your child’s daily after school time with us (with homework & activities, timewise, encompassing a more sizeable part), hula is the core of our afterschool program, and what differentiates us from A+ (which is why we are allowed to co-exist). For each group, new hula steps are taught twice a week, which is why hula attendance at least twice in any given week is mandatory to keep students from falling behind in their group. Hula is taught daily, rain or shine, on the outdoor stage in front of Room 22 (and either in Rm 22 or on the stage in the cafeteria on rainy days).
Every semester, students learn one kahiko and one 'auana number (each group has different choreography to match their skill level), which they perform in an evening performance for their families (the winter ho'ike is in Dec & the spring ho'ike is in May -- fear not, the shows are free and we provide the costumes). And every year, new dances of increasing skill level are taught as the students advance (meaning new dances every year - no repeats). In later years, older students will learn more advanced choreography (e.g. drum dances), chant, and use implements (i.e. puili, 'ili'ili, ipu, or kala'au).
EARLY-RELEASE WEDNESDAY EXTRAS
To give you an idea, here is a snapshot of a year -- in addition to hula and activities, the additional Wednesday activities the students have done with us included learning Pi'apa (a mele/hula teaching the Hawaiian alphabet), Eia Makou (a popular keiki song, with the accompaniment of kala'au, a wooden musical implement), and Ke Kino (a mele similar to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes). They made two types of ti leaf lei, strung crown flower with lei needle, finger-knit eyelash fur kupe'e, wove lauhala bookmarks, made sensory bottles, painted wood ornaments, and created yarn/pipe cleaner/glitter/pom pom/googly eye creations galore. In addition to cultural and craft projects, they had sports days on the basketball court, started learning the ukulele, and cooked each week starting easy with spam musubi and smoothies, before moving on to following recipes for things like ham noodle chowder and scratch-made mac & cheese and more. They also proudly cooked thank-you gifts for others (and not just their own tummies LOL) including Portuguese bean soup for the school staff & administration, and two kinds of chex mix for all the teachers, EAs, and specialists at PCHES with special teacher appreciation pot holders.
Then, the next semester, they learned Oli Mahalo, colors and numbers in Hawaiian, and Hawai'i Aloha & Hawai'i Pono'i (so they'll be able to sing along when it's sung at local events), with the sixth graders also learning ukulele. On the fun and creative front, we made raffia lei, ribbon lei, mock orange & he'e lei, areca palm leaf fish, made (a few) sweet treats like cookies and tanghulu, and even worked in a pool field trip at the Pearl City Rec pool next door. They also started learning about each of the eight Hawaiian islands and their official colors/flowers, and of course, cooking was again a weekly feature where they made recipes that snuck in those veggies like fried rice and curry and even an entire day dedicated to cooking (and eating!) salads (5 kinds), along with dishes from different cultures like gyoza, lumpia, manapua, enchiladas, pasta, and sushi. And in our grand tradition of showing appreciation to our PCHES teachers and staff, we made fruit cake trifles for teacher appreciation week, and chocolate covered strawberries to end the school year.
