Our flurry of Ocean Warriors meet-ups and volunteer efforts continued on Saturday, January 17th with a group of students who we hadn't met, yet, and were new to the wildfire world. The Ocean Warriors after-school program, part of the Malama Kai Foundation, is an experiential youth program for local middle school students that engages them in "coastal stewardship and protection." The Saturday event began with a wildfire lesson through a storyboard presentation at the Waikoloa Dryland Wildfire Safety Park. Once the students got a sense of the wildfire issues in Hawaii, we led the students through a scavenger hunt to familiarize the students with the Firewise demonstration garden. Students quickly grasped the basic concepts of the Ready, Set, Go! program and how they could help the community become more aware of the wildfire situation and what homeowners could do about it. To take that to the next level, the HWMO team took the students to the highest risk area of Waikoloa Village and handed out flyers to the residents about the upcoming CWPP community meeting on January 28th at 6 P.M. at the Waikoloa Community Room and the Wildfire Preparedness Team meeting on February 4th at 6 P.M. also at the Waikoloa Community Room. We had a blast with the students, who are becoming outstanding, knowledgeable citizens.
In April, we will be collaborating with the program for their end-of-the-year showcase where the students will present, in a creative fashion, what they have learned this year (including about wildfire) to the community. Stay tuned for information on the exact date and time of the event!
Banner photo: Scavenger hunt keeps students engaged in the garden.