Strengthen professional and community relationships through networking to facilitate and increase student and peer involvement in environmental and related social issues.

The Native Plant Propagation Program Proposal, which was envisioned and crafted during the Grant Writing Workshop, embodies this goal by connecting students to environmental restoration organizations on Maui and empowering them to bolster the health of our watersheds.  Additionally, the collaboration between students and these organizations fosters the development of communication skills, responsibility for one’s actions, teamwork, and empowers the children to become global citizens with sound ecological literacy.  Leadership, communication, and time management skills developed during the MSES program will support the successful accomplishment of the associated objective.

 

Objective:  a) Apply and synthesize the principles of environmental studies to effectively participate in on-going community-scale discussions and activities to achieve viable and sustainable solutions for community resiliency.  b) Identify three different community organizations whose mission statements are focused on environmental and related social issues and that align with my personal and professional goals. I will attend two regularly scheduled meetings/volunteer opportunities from each within the next year and select one organization to commit to and become part of its leadership team.

 

Acquire and develop an in-depth knowledge of Hawaiian cultural and environmental philosophies and practices through continuing education and local knowledge.

Through self-directed topic selection, the MSES Program provided me with the opportunity to obtain a basic working knowledge of the pre-contact Hawaiian cultural underpinnings and practices.  Graduate work, such as A History of the Central Valley Bioregion on Maui, A Philosophical Exploration of the Water Rights Debate on Maui, Water: Under the Public Trust Doctrine in Hawaiʻi, & Part I: Theories of Sustainability and Resilience on Maui progressively built and deepened my understanding of pre-contact Hawaiian society and how that has shaped their current position with regards to environmental issues on Maui.

 

The Hawaiian culture is a vibrant component of human society in the archipelago and is based upon their intimate ecological knowledge of place. Therefore, when considering solutions to the unique environmental and social challenges that we face on Maui, it is critically important to consult the local traditional practitioners and enlist their perspective as valued stakeholders.  I now have a firm basis of academic understanding; it is time to begin the self-directed lessons of practical knowledge and application.

 

Objective: Annually seek out and attend at least one workshop that is focused on the Hawaiian cultural practices of farming, fishing, or voyaging.  I will connect with a mentor from each that will facilitate and support ongoing knowledge through immersion and practice.     

 

Further develop professional knowledge and skills to transition into an administrative decision-making & leadership role.

My successful completion of the graduate program hinged entirely on my development and utilization of academic skills.  Research, analysis, communication, initiative, creativity and active listening represent areas of intense development and application that will serve me well as I move forward towards attaining my professional goals. Although evidence of these skills can be gleaned from each artifact in my Graduate Portfolio, The Native Plant Propagation Program Proposal  and the successful and tangible work it represents demonstrates my overall professional competencies.  The project is now fully funded and under construction, and the challenges that were associated with bringing the project this far have already increased and developed my professional abilities.  As the project continues to move forward towards completion and curriculum integration, leadership and decision-making will play an ever-increasing critical role. I look forward to expanding my understanding of leadership and group dynamics in this next and final course, Leadership & Organizational Transformation.  

 

Objective: Continue to develop and practice time management, communication, and organizational skills through self-initiated and volunteer projects that are completed in an efficient and timely manner.    

 

Design and construct capital improvements at the Montessori School of Maui that support an environmental program of study to directly connect and contribute to the watershed restoration efforts of local organizations.     

The process of envisioning, funding, designing, and constructing a native plant greenhouse has required a unique merging of past and present skill sets.  Design-build and project management experience attained through ten years of landscape design and construction, coupled with the environmental knowledge from the MSES Program and my connections to the community have laid the foundation for the completion of a native plant greenhouse capital improvement project on the Montessori School of Maui’s campus.  After its completion, this project will provide our students and community with knowledge, awareness, and a sense of empowerment to manifest change at a regional scale.

 

Objective: a) Craft and submit a grant proposal to the Atherton Foundation for a Native Plant Propagation Program capital improvements project on the Montessori School of Maui Campus by July 2018.  b) Obtain full funding for the Native Plant Program’s capital improvements project and complete its construction by December 2019.

 

Design and implement ecological, resource conservation, food security, and sustainability curriculum.

In early Hawaiian society, the integration of nature and society was embodied by the concept of the ahupua’a, an indigenous system of land and resource management that supported their subsistence culture.  Through this system, each ‘ohana, or extended family, had access to the resources that were available within their ahupuaʻa, which stretched from mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean).  Work to improve the land for the common good within the ahupuaʻa, such as auwai (irrigation ditches), loʻi (wet taro plots), and loko iʻa (fishponds) was completed in the spirit of cooperative enterprise, or laulima (many hands).

 

It is the spirit of this concept that has compelled me to begin the development of a three-part culturally integrated preK-8 environmental education program for the Montessori School of Maui’s Living Classroom that is rooted in the philosophies of Dr. Maria Montessori.  As discussed in my Capstone Proposal, this program will 1) include agricultural and native plant production, 2) promote ecological awareness, knowledge, and respect among students, and 3) revitalize the sustainability mission of the school. Years spent in the Montessori environment paired with the support of peers and the environmental knowledge and practice gained during the Natural Systems Ecology, Field Botany, and Field Journaling courses will provide a solid foundation for the curriculum's development.

Objective: a) Develop and initiate an age-appropriate environmental education curriculum that supports the Native Plant Propagation Program by January 2020.  b) Test and evaluate its effectiveness by May 2020 and modify accordingly for the new school year in August 2020.