Students from Konawaena High School visited Hōlualoa Elementary to host a health and fitness field day with the support of parents, high schoolers and community stakeholders.

The day was filled with physical activities, team building challenges, lacrosse and archery. The Hōlualoa Parent Teacher Organization provided parent volunteers and a teacher appreciation coffee and snack table.

While field days offer fun and engaging physical activities, this event aimed for something bigger.

According to the schoolʻs news release, most elementary schools in West Hawaiʻi lack physical education teachers. This means many students might not be getting the necessary physical activity required for their success in school.

When Konawaena Vice Principal Dan Curran and physical education teacher Evyn Yamaguchi discovered that one of their largest feeder schools had no physical education teacher, they teamed up with Project No Ke Ola Pono O Nā Keiki, Hōlualoa Elementary School and the Hōlualoa Parent Teacher Organization to make the event happen.

The field days comprise various physical activity stations designed to model fun and easy physical education lessons that teachers can replicate in the future. Due to sponsorship of County Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas, athletic equipment will be purchased for the school, enabling teachers to do the activities again.

“In Konawaena, most students’ first experience with physical education happens in 6th grade,” Curran said. “By that time they’ve missed the basics of how to move, how to throw, how to use equipment properly. A majority of my students in 9th grade could not even skip correctly.”

“We as a school and community need to support the movement of more ‘Movement’ in our schools, children who are active in their younger years have a significant advantage of staying active into their adulthood.”

Project No Ke Ola Pono O Nā Keiki, initiated by teachers to help schools recover from the pandemic, focuses on strengthening the quality of health and physical education.

Over the past two years, the project has organized more than 35 wellness events in West Hawaiʻi public schools. One of their notable achievements has been the passage of resolutions supporting these events by all West Hawaiʻi government representatives, including Holeka Inaba, Maile David, Rebecca Villegas, Tim Richards and Heather Kimball.

These resolutions not only provide financial assistance to acquire physical education equipment but also demonstrate the representativesʻ commitment to prioritizing health and physical education in schools.

For more information on volunteering for Field Day or organizing an event, contact Joel Matsunaga at joel.matsunaga@k12.hi.us.