Kona Historical Society’s new virtual field trips teach, entertain and inspire
By Carolyn Lucas-Zenk, Kona Historical Society Community Engagement Manager
For fifth graders in Tina Flower’s class at Hawaii Technology Academy, the final day of school marked an important transition, one that is often eagerly anticipated: middle school. Refusing to let this milestone be missed, Flower called upon the perfect party animals: Shizu and Charlie Boy.
These donkeys at Kona Historical Society’s Kona Coffee Living History Farm helped surprise the students May 27 with a special graduation party. During the Zoom video call, Public Programs Manager Audrey Blair introduced the class to the donkeys, who help tell the story of their ancestors, the Kona Nightingales, and are currently participating in a virtual story time Wednesdays on the Society’s Facebook Page. In the early 20th century, donkeys like Shizu and Charlie Boy were shared between farmers, used as transportation, hauled coffee, and were famous for their braying.
Blair then relied heavily on a well-known doctor’s advice while helping commemorate the class during this unique farewell ceremony. Citing Dr. Seuss, she read, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
In the end, this virtual field trip provided more than smiles. It allowed the class to socially connect, celebrate everyone’s achievements, and wish each other a fond farewell or good summer while also learning briefly about Kona’s history and enjoying a story time with a couple of farm animals.
“So many of our students' special events had to be canceled, and I wanted my fifth graders to have a special and memorable moment for their end of elementary school,” Flower said. “Through brainstorming with the Programs Coordinator, we came up with the idea of storytelling, using the classic Dr. Seuss book ‘Oh, the Places You'll Go!’ with the Kona Nightingales. Besides, who doesn't love the idea of a donkey graduation?”
This was the second virtual field trip Flower’s students went on with Kona Historical Society, which is a community-based, nonprofit organization and Smithsonian Museum affiliate that has spent the past four decades collecting, preserving and sharing the history of the Kona districts and their rich cultural heritage within Hawaii.
“Field trips and field studies are a huge part of our elementary program. All of our fourth quarter field trips were canceled because of COVID-19, so I was eager to try a virtual version of a field trip. We've done field trips with Kona Historical Society nearly every year, so I knew it would be a quality experience,” Flower said. “We can all learn important lessons from history, both in terms of what not to repeat and what practices we might return to. Technology and progress have moved our society forward in many ways, but not without a cost. Understanding how people have lived and thrived in different times can help us to adapt and manage as times change and as we face challenges such as our current pandemic.”
When the health crisis hit and stay-at-home orders took effect, Kona Historical Society, like many of its sister nonprofits, museums and educational institutions across the world, decided to rise to the challenge of providing incredible digital resources for its communities. The Society’s new virtual field trips are completely free for Hawaii schools and allow students to visit the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, H.N. Greenwell Store Museum, Native Forest Exhibit and the Portuguese Stone Oven – all without leaving their home or classroom. The Society’s two award-winning sites in Captain Cook and at Kalukalu headquarters in Kealakekua are both listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
At Hawaii Technology Academy, Flower teaches a total of 17 students across three grade levels (third, fourth and fifth). Her class was the very first group to participate in Society’s inaugural virtual field trip.
“Like all schools, we were no longer able to meet with our students in person. We were able to transition to virtual/remote learning, but it's not appropriate to have young students experience a full day of screen time. So, student learning was impacted significantly, and many students became bored at home. This definitely contributed to my decision to try the virtual field trip,” Flower said.
On April 20, Flower and her students were transported beyond the walls of their homes to inside the Society’s H.N. Greenwell Store Museum. This museum gives a telling glimpse into life in Kona before the turn of the 20th century and the Kingdom of Hawaii’s place in the global economy. The Society restored this historic general store to approximately 1891. This represents the peak of Henry Nicholas Greenwell’s ranching operations and his mercantile. It is also the year he died.
Flowers said they learned about the experience of a shopper back in the days when the store was open. They discovered how customers may have traveled to and from the store, how often they may have gone shopping, what they may have purchased, and how they preserved perishable foods. They also saw the products on the shelves and samples of the Hawaiian currency that was used.
“After the field trip ended, I thought it was interesting that my students began talking about how much fun they thought it would be to live during those days,” Flower said. “They acknowledged that there would have been a lot more hard work, but they thought even the work would be fun, such as churning butter. They even commented that we are all lazier nowadays!”
Over the past few weeks, COVID-19 has cast an uncertain future over education. While no one knows for certain what teaching and learning will look like, educators like Flower do foresee virtual field trips continuing and a return to in-person field trips as soon as that option is safe.
Flowers doesn’t think the virtual experience can completely replace the value of in-person field trips. Still, she sees the value of both offerings and how they could even be used in conjunction to supplement each other. For her, a major benefit is “a virtual field trip allows students to have access to people and places that they wouldn’t otherwise have, whether that’s because of a stay-at-home order, or simply because it’s too far away.”
Kahakai Elementary School Academic Coach and Fifth Grade STEM Co-Teacher Bill Chen sees the value of all field trips, whether virtual or in person.
“I think virtual field trips could be something we do in the future. First of all, it eliminates financial and geographical barriers. With the rising cost of busing students to field trips, this was an incredibly economical way to explore a place on island,” he said. “In addition, if there are students around the world or on another island who would like to explore this, they could utilize the virtual field trip. Whether or not they are virtual, field trips add depth to student knowledge. It connects what students are learning in the classroom to what exists in their community.”
Chen teaches fifth grade science with eight other amazing fifth grade teachers ‑ Mrs. Kaimuloa Bates, Ms. Fuller, Mrs. DeGuair, Mr. Halmas, Mr. Argueta, Ms. Kinsler, Mrs. Davidson, and Ms. Ombac. Together, they have between 16 to 20 students in six different classes. These educators chose to go on a virtual field trip with Kona Historical Society with the intent of exploring what a synchronous virtual field trip could look like for their school.
“COVID-19 deeply impacted the student experience this past semester. While we have very strong classroom culture, some students lack the support at home or Wi-Fi connection to truly get the most out of distance learning. It has exacerbated the inequities we were trying to battle during the school year. Our decision to sign up and do this virtual field trip was inspired by our decision to re-think education, and find ways to engage different learners,” Chen said. “We have gone on asynchronous virtual field trips where students explore different parts of a place with materials posted online but doing a field trip with a person on site was new. We thought the experience could perhaps inform how we could deepen distance learning. In addition, we were intrigued about the native forests because it tied to a lot of the work we have done with kilo observations, native forest studies, and ecosystems.”
On May 8, the classes explored the beauty and new beginnings of Kona Historical Society’s Native Forest Exhibit, currently in restoration. Using her cellphone, Programs Coordinator Alexis Ching walked the classes through this half-acre living exhibit, sharing the stories about certain plants and explaining the importance of native forests with the hope of inspiring youth to help preserve this important historic, cultural, and ecological knowledge.
One student later said, "Something I had learned throughout the field trip how vital every aspect of the land is. Every native plant or animal contributes to the ecosystem. This trip helped me strengthen my sense of Hawaii."
Another student wrote, “I showed a sense of responsibility because I connected with my ancestors. I learned that 90 percent of our native species are endangered."
A different student shared, "I strengthen my sense of aloha because I got to learn about what Hawaiian plants is at Kona Historical Society. Like they grow palapalai and 'a'ali'i there!”
Blair then showed the classes the giant beehive-like stone oven, or forno, in the Society’s Kalukalu Pasture. She explained art of Portuguese bread making and the contributions of the Portuguese, who arrived in Hawaii in the 1880s. While many of these immigrants worked in the sugar plantations, a fair number did find their way to Kona dairies and are credited for helping develop this industry.
One student said, "I strengthened excellence because they taught us how to make their bread and told us about when they started."
Another student said, "I learned that the furnace they used can go up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is pretty hot.”
Chen recommends educators take their classes on a virtual field trip with Kona Historical Society and suggested that they find ways to engage students during their “visit,” whether that’s doing reflections on notebooks and a Padlet or having students draw what they see in real time. He thoroughly enjoyed both programs and found the experience rewarding for all. Not only did this virtual field trip help reinforce the lessons taught in the classroom, it also inspired the attendees and helped illuminate the importance of our history.
“It is very important for our youth to learn about how to protect, preserve, and share our history and our native forests because they can be community stewards,” Chen said. “Without building the mindset that the community is important and there is history to preserve, students grow up to think they can take from the environment and that history does not need to be passed down. This field trip instills the desire to continue to protect native plants and to share stories to keep the information going.”
“We can all learn important lessons from history, both in terms of what not to repeat and what practices we might return to. Technology and progress have moved our society forward in many ways, but not without a cost. Understanding how people have lived and thrived in different times can help us to adapt and manage as times change and as we face challenges such as our current pandemic.”