September is Hawaiian History Month, and this year it comes during a challenging time for some Hawaiian language immersion programs, including in Kapolei.
Kapolei Middle School’s program, Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Kapōlei, was cut just a few weeks before the school year, meaning that the high school will have fewer incoming students for their program. Another challenge? Students have been resistant to practicing ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
HPR paid a visit to Kapolei High School to learn what struggles the educators are facing, and what they’re doing to keep their students inspired.
As an endangered language, they say the responsibility to preserve it is immense.
“ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi was banned from the school systems for a very long time, and it skipped a couple generations within our own ʻohana, so that kuleana is huge,” Kumu Meleāna Mirafuentes told HPR.
“I think it's maikaʻi to remind them, as well as remind ourselves, so that we can holomua.”
And the responsibility to perpetuate ʻŌlelo falls as much on the students as it does on the educators — although with the burdens that come with navigating high school as an adolescent, making that responsibility clear is a challenge in and of itself.
“It's hard because I know that they're growing,” Kumu Sasha Kahanu Duran told HPR.
“I just hope they don't think that ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is useless. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is our language, and you can do anything with it.” The vision for Kapolei High School is to challenge and inspire students to fulfill their dreams with care, dignity, and integrity.
For nā kumu, they do this by inspiring the next generation to speak the language and carry it forward.
More information about Kapolei High School's Ke Kula Kaiapuni ʻo Kapōlei program can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 22, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
