Herb Lee Jr.
PROJECT DIRECTOR, Aloha Aina
Context
The term “Aloha Aina” means “Love the Land”. The concept of Aloha Aina helps address the problems of underachievement of Native Hawaiian students, indicated by low student scores on the Hawaii State Assessment and low rates of retention. The teachers and staff of Aloha Aina have adapted a research-based academic curriculum that is grounded in Native Hawaiian culture and values, incorporates mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts for lower elementary grades. It also proposes to strengthen these students Hawaiian identity, self esteem, academic and personal achievements, capacity for leadership and hope for the future. Innovation The Aloha Aina project has developed over a dozen different programs, and created a variety of culturally based curriculum for public and private schools and has touched the lives of thousands of people in Hawaii and abroad. Under Mr. Lee’s leadership the staff and members of the project are constantly innovating and working to shape the future, while preserving a heritage. The Aloha Aina curriculum provides Hawaii’s youth with culturally relevant lessons. The curriculum is uniquely designed to inspire students to:
Impact Herb Lee Jr.'s program has trained over 3,000 teachers and benefited 60,000 plus students on all of the major Hawaiian Islands. Herb, who has led more than a decade of effort to restore Waikalua Loko fishpond in Kaneohe, said, “getting the community to take stewardship of historical sites is critical to saving history.” At one time, hundreds of fishponds lined the Windward shores. Today a handful remains, and only because of efforts from people who value them. “Kaneohe is rich in these resources, so it’s an opportunity to reclaim them in our generation so that we can learn from them, restore them and pass them on to the next generation,” Lee said, calling the projects a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “It’s not only for Kaneohe but the whole Windward side, the whole island.” Practices Herb Lee’s philosophy of life is stated as follows: “When we cease to understand our connection to land, when we no longer accept responsibility for our actions to the land and sea, when we abdicate being accountable for our own learning, when we no longer strive to become stewards, when we fail to appreciate history and the importance of culture, we destroy the light of hope within ourselves and the journey of generations toward global sustainability.” By serving on numerous boards and commissions, his networking skills are effective and productive. He meets with anyone who shares the love of the land and concern for education for children. He understands the political arena and has experience in the Federal, State and County governments working for our former city council person and congresswomen. He has secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants and this year the State of Hawaii awarded “Aloha Aina” project $1,000,000 in grant-in-aid. The staff of the project has the same philosophy as Mr. Lee and work together to create a better Hawaii. They all network with different people and organizations by serving on the board level or volunteering their time. Mr. Lee is willing to take risks. Presently, he is working with the City and County of Honolulu and the Federal government to use a decommissioned sewer overflow holding tank located next to the fishpond for an aquaculture program. The students will use this facility to study food production and it is expected to produce several tons of fresh seafood every month. This will add another income stream to support and expand their program. |
Bio
Herb Lee is a Native Hawaiian that has has provided leadership in areas such as parent involvement, career planning and development, STEM education and culture-based curriculum projects, including the award winning “Aloha Aina” project. The Aloha Aina project uses the Waikalua Loko Fishpond in Kaneohe, Oahu, to educate students to protect, preserve, restore and steward an ancient cultural resource. Herb Lee Jr. is guided by principles he has learned from an early age from his parents and teachers - principles that guide his work to transform education for children. |