Our Team
Eōmailani K. Kukahiko, Ph.D.
Specialist
College of Education
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Aloha e nā hoa kumu, ʻo au kēia ʻo Eōmailani Keonaonalikookalehua Kukahiko no Waimānalo, Oʻahu. He ʻehā aʻu keiki a he limahana au ma ke kulanui ʻo Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa ma ke keʻena Kurikulama. Nui koʻu aloha i ka hoʻonaʻauao ma o ka ʻike Hawaiʻi. He nui nō hoʻi koʻu mahalo i ke ala e lilo ai au i kumu kaiapuni. E kūpaʻa au i ke aloha o ka ʻāina, ke one hānau hoʻi o koʻu mau kūpuna.
My name is Eōmailani Keonaonalikookalehua Kukahiko and I am from Waimānalo, Oʻahu and have four children. I am a Specialist in the Curriculum Studies Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, I am a staunch supporter of Hawaiian education, specifically Kula Kaiapuni. I am so fortunate that my love of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi has led to a career of teaching and learning about Hawaiian culture.
E nihi ka hele i ka uka o Puna. Go carefully into the uplands of Puna.
This advice is given in the moʻolelo of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele but is also repeated in different contexts through Hawaiian history when traveling to new places or even learning new knowledge. We must be careful, thoughtful even when approaching new situations but also be cognizant of the treasures we have in our own places and knowledge.
Stacy Prellberg, M.Ed.
Junior Specialist
College of Education
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Aloha kākou! My name is Stacy Prellberg and I was a classroom teacher (2012 - 2019)and taught in schools like Waikoloa Middle (Principal: Kris Kosa-Correia), Waialua Elementary (2014, Principal: Scott Moore), and Hanahauʻoli School (2018, Head of School: Lia Woo) and I currently serve as a Director at Aupuni Palapala. We help organize events and support teachers through developing opportunities that help focus on ʻike Hawaiʻi and place-based education. I am always excited about education, but I also have other interests in things like art, music, philosophy, journaling/notebooking and any form of self-expression.
My overall professional goal is to become an educational resource that supports educators and students in Hawaiʻi through a Hawaiian lense. I am committed to building more bridges between ʻike Hawaiʻi (as ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers and cultural practitioners know it) to the way ʻike Hawaiʻi is presented in the classrooms, schools, and communities today. There is still much work to be done in helping promote spaces where a Hawaiian way of learning can thrive.
I ka ʻōlelo nō ke ola, I ka ʻōlelo nō ka make. Life is in speech; death is in speech. Words can heal: words can destroy. (#1191)
This ʻōlelo noʻeau was given to me by my former Hawaiian studies teacher, Ron Williams Jr. Ph.D, and he stressed the idea that language is the breath of a people and what happens to language is what happens to that people. This idea struck me so that I would write, say, and carry this ʻōlelo noʻeau wherever I went, even to San Diego, where I lived for a few years. The ʻōlelo noʻeau wisdom was laid out as a way to begin to understand culture and cultural differences as well as supports and actions in destroying and/or supporting cultural identity. I concluded that the more languages we try to learn, the more we learn to be inclusive.
Ikaika Mendez
Student Communications and Media Support
Welina me ke aloha kākou! ʻO wau nō ʻo Ikaika Mendez no Maui mai. He kupa nō au no ka ʻāina kua laʻolaʻo ʻo Kanaio ma Honuaʻula. He haumāna laepua au ma ke Kulanui ʻo Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa (UHM) a ʻo ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi a me Mele Hawaiʻi kaʻu mau mēkia. He limahana au kekahi no Aupuni Palapala (AP) ma ke Kula Hoʻonaʻauao o UHM. ʻO ka pahuhopu ma hope o ka puka ʻana i ke kulanui, ke lana nei ka manaʻo, e lilo i kumu hoʻonaʻauao.
My goal while working under Aupuni Palapala is to support teachers from all over in their efforts to create a Hawaiian space of learning in their classrooms. I want to be able to assist these teachers in any way possible, whether it be through marketing, communications, development or teaching. Aupuni Palapala provides these opportunities for all its employees and partners. The biggest thing happening for me in AP is teaching through Hui Kamaʻilio and soon to be teaching Papa Mele in collaboration with Kula Kaiapuni Hawaiʻi alongside Kaʻula Krug. In these development events, we are challenged to teach in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi about language, culture and music. It is definitely leading me to achieving my overall goal which is to eventually become an educator of my own. There are still places for me to grow and learn and this organization is definitely helping me and many other educators and students do so.
ʻO ke kahua ma mua, ma hope ke kūkulu. First comes the foundation, then the building.
In a way, this can be interpreted to a phrase in which we are all familiar: “Think hard before you speak.” In the words of Mary Kawena Pukuʻi, this ʻōlelo noʻeau speaks to all scholars. Being a student at UH and the first child in my entire family to attend a 4-year university, I want to be able to learn all I can to take back to my family and teach them. The words of our kūpuna insist that we learn all we can, then practice it. We can’t achieve greatness if greatness is not yet understood. These phrases are all based around the theme of creating a foundation before building anything: a house, a business, a family, etc.
Kaʻula Krug
Student Communications and Tech Support
Aloha ʻo wau ʻo Kaʻula Krug, he kama na ka makani Kaiāulu o Lualualei, Waiʻanae. Ua hānai ʻia wau ma ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi mai koʻu wā kamaliʻi mai ā hiki i kēia lā. Hānai ʻia au ma luna o ke kahua o ka ʻike a me ka naʻauao o koʻu poʻe kūpuna. Ma loko o nā mele Hawaiʻi a me nā moʻolelo Hawaiʻi nā haʻawina koʻikoʻi mai ō kikilo mai. He mea nui ka Hawaiʻi maoli ʻana iaʻu a ʻo ia kuanaʻike nō kaʻu e kāpili ai i kēlā lā kēia lā. ʻO ka hoʻonaʻauao ʻana i koʻu lāhui kaʻu pahuhopu ma ke ola. Makemake wau e hana i ka nui i hiki e pono ai ka lāhui Hawaiʻi ma mua o koʻu hoʻi ʻana me nā kūpuna. Ma Aupuni Palapala nei, ʻo ke kāʻana ʻana i ke kuanaʻike haumāna Hawaiʻi i nā kumu e aʻo nei i nā hanauna hou o Hawaiʻi nei. Kūlia au i ka hōʻike ʻana i nā ʻōlelo a me nā kuanaʻike e pono ai mākou ka hanauna hou. Ma koʻu ola, e kuʻupau ana wau ma nā ʻoihana hoʻonaʻauao. Ma ka haumāna ʻana, ma ke kumu ʻana, a ma ka polopeka ʻana kekahi. Pēlā e ao ai ʻo Hawaiʻi.
He ala iki ko kahuna
He ʻōlelo noʻeau no ke koʻikoʻi o ke ʻoʻoleʻa a me ka mālama ʻana i nā kuleana. He ala hāiki ke ola a ʻaʻole hiki ke lapu wale o hihia ka hele ʻana a haʻalele ʻia kēlā ala hāiki. Inā makemake ʻia ka loea a kahuna ʻana, e kāmoe pololei ma ia ala hāiki.