The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) hosted its 43rd annual conference, “Maintaining Traditions in a Digital Era,” in Oklahoma City this year (Oct 18-21, 2012). Among the indigenous groups represented were American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians. isisHawaii was proud to be included in this national indigenous education forum, sharing findings from the “Ipu Waiwai – Storing the Wealth of Learning” project currently being implemented in the Nanakuli/Wai‘anae public school district. Featured aspects of the project were the significant investment made in assessing needs from key stakeholders and participating schools, the intracurricular model developed and the inclusion of evaluators during the design process.

Presenting for isisHawaii were VerlieAnn Malina-Wright, EdD (Cultural/Education Specialist), Kapono Ciotti, MA (Professional Development/Curriculum Developer/Cultural Specialist), Crystal Mills, PhD (Evaluator) and Lynn Fujioka (Project Manager, Ipu Waiwai). (Presentation slides and handouts available upon request.)