April 2019: Table of Contents

April 1, 2019

Site Staff,

Features

Grading the Public Schools

We’ve ranked Hawai‘i’s public schools using official state Department of Education data. How does your school measure up?

Learning centers and Hawaiian language immersion are among the programs that show that Hawai‘i public schools reach far beyond test scores and letter grades. Across O‘ahu, we visited schools where students are pursuing their passions in diverse ways.

BY Jayna Omaye

The Bottom Line

The state Department of Education manages a $1.99 billion operating budget. But how is that budget funded? We dove into the numbers and found out what stakeholders have to say about it.

BY JAYNA OMAYE

Food For Thought

There is something cooking in Hawai‘i’s public schools, and that’s unusual. After years of many students getting heat-and-eat dishes, local ingredients are making their way into school cafeterias. And that’s changing lunchtime in a big way.

BY Maria Kanai

Aloha On the Waterfront

The most diverse student body in the country, Hawai’i Pacific University students have enlivened Fort Street but always lacked a real home. Now they’re getting one at Aloha Tower Marketplace and Waterfront and Pioneer plazas. But the path hasn’t been smooth and the next four months promise to be real cliffhangers as new classrooms and more need to be finished by August. If all goes well, however, the big shift could not only supercharge the school, but power Downtown’s transformation.

By Don Wallace

Special Section

Faces of Hawai‘i

Photography by David Croxford and Aaron K. Yoshino

Calabash

April Picks

Picnic at a celebratory kanikapila, try a new spin on Spam and say goodbye to the funkmaster general.

By Christi Young

Bowled Over

Volunteer potters are making thousands of bowls for charity. Here’s how you can snag one on April 12.

BY KatRINA VALCOURT

Art of Building

Walking tours, films, sketches and photography celebrate Honolulu’s vibrant architecture scene.

BY Robbie Dingeman

Swap Meat

Being fake is sometimes a healthy thing. Just ask chef Jenn Hee of Juicy Brew, who took the iconic Salisbury steak dinner and made it good faux you—even with gravy all ovah.

BY Stacey Makiya

Da Meter

Gauging what’s hot and what’s not in Honolulu.

BY HONOLULU MAGAZINE STAFF

Quote Unquote: Merrie Monarch’s Luana Kawelu

Luana Kawelu, 79, took over as president of the Merrie Monarch Festival after her mom, Dottie Thompson, who was instrumental in reviving the event in the 1970s, died in 2010. Kawelu, a retired social worker, oversees everything from managing the 19 wāhine and 10 kāne hālau competing this year to sorting the thousands of ticket requests that come in from across the globe.