Kanoelani Steward: From STEM to Hawaiian Language
When Kanoelani Steward attended Lahaina Intermediate School, you weren’t likely to hear students speaking the Hawaiian language around campus. Now as a teacher at Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Lahaina at Lahaina Intermediate, she’s proud to teach ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i on the campus she once attended.
“It’s super important because it’s a part of who we are as a people,” she says. “If we don’t have our language, we don’t have the stories that come from our people; we don’t have the stories of this place that we come from.”
Steward discovered an interest in STEM and Hawaiian culture during her time at Kapi‘olani Community College. After earning her liberal arts degree from Kapi‘olani CC, she moved to the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo where she earned a B.S. in Marine Science and a B.A. in Hawaiian Studies. She’s now pursuing her master’s degree in Hawaiian Language and Literature.
“Find a hui,” she advises students. “When you have a hui and you work together, you’re able to bounce ideas off of each other; you’re able to study together. This is what’s really going to take you to wherever you want to go.”