Stem Day

NHSEMP is the Native Hawaiian Science & Engineering Mentorship Program here at UH Manoa and they offer a huge range of programs dedicated to enhancing our communities with a strong devotion to preserving and maintaining success for Hawaiian Heritage and Culture. One such program that especially helps unite our community is called “Stem Day” which revolves around building a fun KiwiCo kit with dozens of families all together in real-time over Zoom to provide a comfortable and fun experience for the next generation. This gives the children time to bond with their families and get amazing creations out of it as well. Throughout the sessions, Kumu liked my show and explain detailed instructions on how to construct the kits as well as provided information on what some of the items on the list are called in Hawaiian. We often drop such keywords throughout and on special occasions give them the history of Hawaiian culture and legacy.

My job generally is either to be the “hands” (Creating the kit alongside the Ohana) or the “voice” (Explaining the steps verbally clearly and concisely). I’ve been in both of these roles before and have a handful of Stem Days that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of. Both roles require a bit of knowledge of relevant Hawaiian keywords and the ability to cut through that space when everyone is silently toiling away at their creations. We create a fun and welcoming environment for those who wish to pursue that curiosity in engineering and promote growth in their ambition. The experiences have taught me how to be more concise with my wording while still cutting through that initial unease and tension and have provided me with an amazing opportunity to share the Aloha with Ohana across the seas. To learn more about NHSEMP and what they do visit Here