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IPA Faculty Become Students at Professional Development Day

The best educators are students too! ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY faculty and staff spent Friday, April 7, 2017 exploring the importance of place-based education in their curricula with discussions, guest speakers, and small-group learning trips to several area resources during Professional Development Day.

Faculty and staff were treated to lunch prepared from locally-sourced organic ingredients by Kahumana Organic Farms. They also heard from Tom McDonald, Executive Director, and Father Phil Harmon, founder of Kahumana Organic Farms, about the community resources provided by the organization and the potential for collaborative projects between IPA students and Kahumana Organic Farms.

In the afternoon, faculty and staff attended one of four learning trips/experiences organized to introduce them to nearby resources available within the community, which they can integrate with their course curriculum to bring place-based learning into their classrooms. Groups went on short learning trips to  Kalaeloa Partners, Camp Pālehua with the Mālama Learning Center, or Kalaeloa Heritage Park, or remained on campus for a kapa-making workshop.

IPA faculty and staff at Camp Pālehua.
IPA faculty and staff enjoy the view of the Ewa plain and West side from Camp Pālehua with Pauline Sato from the Mālama Learning Center.
IPA faculty and staff plant plants at Camp Pālehua.
Jéne Komine, Mike Armstrong, and Megan Demesillo plant native plants to help prevent soil erosion at Camp Pālehua.
IPA faculty and staff at Kalaeloa Heritage Park.
IPA faculty and staff at Kalaeloa Heritage Park.
IPA faculty and staff learned about the many cultural sites on the 77-acre Kalaeloa Heritage Park.
IPA faculty and staff learned about the many cultural sites on the 77-acre Kalaeloa Heritage Park.
Faculty and staff in hard hats at Kalaeloa Partners.
A small group of faculty and staff visited the combined-cycle cogeneration energy plant at Kalaeloa Partners in Kapolei.
IPA faculty and staff tour the combined-cycle cogeneration energy plant with Kalaeloa Partners in Kapolei.
IPA faculty and staff tour the combined-cycle cogeneration energy plant with Kalaeloa Partners in Kapolei.
Faculty and staff learn to make their own kapa cloth from mulberry branches on the IPA campus.
Faculty and staff learn to make their own kapa cloth from mulberry branches on the IPA campus.
IPA faculty and staff show off the kapa cloths they pounded and printed on Professional Development day.
IPA faculty and staff show off the kapa cloths they pounded and printed on Professional Development day.

The goal of this Professional Development day was to gain an appreciation for the value our local culture and landscape as a primary resource for learning, and to help our faculty provide their students with a sense stewardship for the local environment and community.

ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY recognizes and appreciates the need for our faculty and staff to continue their own education, and organizes Professional Development days four times a year.