This fall, Punahou School hosted a naturalization ceremony for 68 new citizens who took an oath and pledged allegiance to the United States of America. Punahou School's community got a front-row seat as the roll call for immigrants from 21 countries was read off.
The ceremony was coordinated by Punahou's Junior ROTC program and the Davis Democracy Initiative, started by attorney Mark Davis and his wife, Janie. The Davis Family Foundation established a fund to develop curricula around issues of American democracy.
The idea was hatched around the time of the pandemic, and working with Punahou President Mike Latham and educators David Ball and Pam Sakamoto, the program took off.
Davis dropped by The Conversation’s studio along with Sakamoto to discuss finding a better way to teach democracy in action.
“I think with the way we originally approached it was, do we need to rethink how we teach civics to our high school and even younger students?” Davis said. “Because the world is such that, often if you can involve students in experiential types of interchanges, whether it's through civic engagement or the interactions with mentors or public policy people, is that a better way to understand the way our democracy works as opposed to the way it's conventionally taught with facts and figures and three branches of government.”
While some civics education is being taught at the college level, Davis said they have found very little education for lower grades.
“Studies show that the earlier you introduce children or students to civics, the more naturally it becomes, and that they just take on the sense that they're part of the process and part of democracy,” Sakamoto said.
“If you can take fourth graders to the legislature and have them interact with some of our representatives and see the action, they feel a part of it," Sakamoto said. "And by the time that they get to the high school level, they're really ready.”
Sakamoto added that this year, they have seen grades nine through 12 take up leadership, attend guest speaker talks, and drive new ideas and events.
The program aims to develop curricula to teach about American democratic ideals and why, in these polarized times, it is important to teach civil discourse in our schools.
This story aired on The Conversation on Dec. 17, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
