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| A fossilized footprint from the 1790 eruption. Photo from Kilaueaadventure.com |
IT IS NOT RACE AND CULTURE but income disparity that statistically separates students who do well in math and reading from those who test poorly, according to a story by Derrick de Pledge in the Honolulu Star Advertiser this morning. "Student test scores have improved significantly over the past decade, but the achievement gap for low-income students remains about the same," de Pledge writes. "Last school year, 67 percent of all students were proficient in reading, according to preliminary results from the state Department of Education, while 57 percent of disadvantaged students were proficient. Fifty-five percent of all students were proficient in math, while 45 percent of disadvantaged students were proficient." In the 2001-2002 school year, the first under federal No Child Left Behind requirements, 40 percent of all students were proficient in reading, while 27 percent of disadvantaged students were proficient. Nineteen percent of all students were proficient in math, while 10 percent of disadvantaged students were proficient, the story reports. As a result, the state Department of Education "plans to zero in on reducing the achievement gap," the story says. "People really want to say, ‘Well, you know, it’s the teacher, or the principal, or the parent, or whatever.’ And it’s all of us,” said Ronn Nozoe, a deputy superintendent at the state Department of Education. Sharon Beck, principal of Ka`u High, Intermediate and Elementary Schools, recently pointed out numerous improvements in Ka`u students and pledges much more improvement in coming years.
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| Late Mayor Herbert Matayoshi |
HERBERT MATAYOSHI, mayor of Hawai`i County from 1974 to 1984, will be honored with flags flying at half-mast tomorrow. Gov. Neil Abercrombie gave a statewide order for flags to fly at half-staff for Matayoshi, who was this county’s second elected mayor.
Matayoshi also served on the County Council and county Board of Supervisors.
Services are open to the public tomorrow from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Hilo at Church of the Holy Cross. A celebration of life will be held at 4 p.m.
ALTERNATING LANE CLOSURES on Mamalahoa Highway 11 in both directions are planned near South Point Road this coming Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., for pavement resurfacing and guardrail installation.
A MOON-BASED research park is the subject of a meeting here on the Big Island by astronomers, other scientists and administrators of NASA and other space agencies. They will convene at the International Lunar Research Park Leaders Summit in November at Waikoloa.
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY SCIENTISTS are reviewing carbon data showing long periods of lava flow from Kilauea Volcano and other periods of lava flow replaced by explosive activity. According to this week’s Volcano Watch, the periods of explosive lava eruptions were between 2,200 and 1,000 years ago and 900 to 200 years ago. These were periods when lava was deep inside the volcano and when mixed with water would sometimes send out huge eruptions of vapor and water like the Keoneleleli, “the falling of the sands” in 1790 when a party of Chief Keoua’s army was killed by volcanic ash and smoke when marching across the Ka`u Desert, leaving what is now known as the fossilized Footprints Trail within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
NEW AND IMPROVED WATER SPIGOTS AT WAI`OHINU will be the subject of an islandwide dedication ceremony tomorrow at 9 A.M. at the Wai`ohinu Solid Waste Transfer Station. Mayor Billy Kenoi will celebrate additional sources of water for those living remotely who need to haul water to their homes. There are six new or improved water spigot centers opened around the island, offering safe locations where residents can draw clean, potable water for household use, the mayor said.
Thousands of rural residents in the County of Hawai`i are served by household water catchment systems but also rely on county-operated water spigots for safe drinking water. The new installation is by the county Department of Water Supply and the county Department of Public Works.
ALTERNATING LANE CLOSURES on Mamalahoa Highway 11 in both directions are planned near South Point Road this coming Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., for pavement resurfacing and guardrail installation.
A MOON-BASED research park is the subject of a meeting here on the Big Island by astronomers, other scientists and administrators of NASA and other space agencies. They will convene at the International Lunar Research Park Leaders Summit in November at Waikoloa.
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY SCIENTISTS are reviewing carbon data showing long periods of lava flow from Kilauea Volcano and other periods of lava flow replaced by explosive activity. According to this week’s Volcano Watch, the periods of explosive lava eruptions were between 2,200 and 1,000 years ago and 900 to 200 years ago. These were periods when lava was deep inside the volcano and when mixed with water would sometimes send out huge eruptions of vapor and water like the Keoneleleli, “the falling of the sands” in 1790 when a party of Chief Keoua’s army was killed by volcanic ash and smoke when marching across the Ka`u Desert, leaving what is now known as the fossilized Footprints Trail within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
NEW AND IMPROVED WATER SPIGOTS AT WAI`OHINU will be the subject of an islandwide dedication ceremony tomorrow at 9 A.M. at the Wai`ohinu Solid Waste Transfer Station. Mayor Billy Kenoi will celebrate additional sources of water for those living remotely who need to haul water to their homes. There are six new or improved water spigot centers opened around the island, offering safe locations where residents can draw clean, potable water for household use, the mayor said.
Thousands of rural residents in the County of Hawai`i are served by household water catchment systems but also rely on county-operated water spigots for safe drinking water. The new installation is by the county Department of Water Supply and the county Department of Public Works.
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| The old sugar mill in 1900, the last mill torn down in 1996. |
KA`U PLANTATION DAYS is gearing up for next Saturday, Aug. 20 at Pahala Plantation House, and the annual Ka`u High School Reunion will be held on Sunday, Aug. 21 at Pahala Community Center. Plantation Days starts at 9 a.m. and will feature a cane truck driving through Pahala just like the old days. Representatives of the union and many cultural groups will present historic displays. One display features old photos of houses, and residents can come and find their home. Also planned are ethnic foods, music and dance from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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| Maile Street with Chong Store, a hotel and the field office at right. |