A ‘School Within A School’ Is Building Community And Food Security In Hana 0 A local nonprofit is helping train the next generation of agricultural leaders.
Earlier that morning, it poured in Hana. Now, with the sun creeping out from behind the clouds, the air is thick with humidity as Hauʻoli Kahaleuahi strolls through the heart of Hana School to the mala — or garden bed — dug into a stretch of grass between two rows of classrooms.
“Uala, radish, basil,” Kahaleuahi says, listing off each vegetable growing there.
“Daikon,” she continues, walking alongside the line of soil. “Lettuce, green onions.”
Today, the garden area is quiet. The children are inside the classrooms; they will come to work in the soil later. The row that Kahaleuahi walks near, which stretches the length of at least a couple classrooms, is one of five in this single small grassy section of campus. There are others scattered across the schoolyard that are tended by different grade levels, plus a number of hydroponic systems where students plan to grow lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes later this year.
