HONUA Scholars’ Onizuka Day Outreach

Apr 28

Earlier this month, I participated in community outreach with HONUA Scholars. We ran an educational booth at Onizuka Day and worked with over 100 children and youth on strawberry DNA extractions. It was great exposure for the organization and a fun way for scholars in higher education to adapt our pedagogy to younger audiences. This was my first time at the event, and I had conflicting emotions about it. I enjoyed interacting with local families and youth, seeing students excited about STEM, and sharing space with so many people at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu campus. However, as a Critical Race Wahine ʻŌiwi scholar, the presence of U.S. military representatives deeply unsettled me. This was definitely one of those moments when my personal positionality did not align with an organization or an event’s partnerships.

Still, I think the families we connected with enjoyed the experiment we engaged their students in, and it generated questions and dialogue between parents and children, which reflects my growing interest in designing for critical family dialogue.

This outreach was also an opportunity for HONUA Scholars to promote the 2025 iteration of our Proposal Competition, which we are planning to launch within the next two weeks. This year, we are focusing on Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of defining and enacting Indigenous health and wellbeing. We are inviting all students in grades 6 through undergraduate to submit a 1-2 page proposal in response to our prompt by October 15. More news to come. Mahalo!