» Mark Atta, a teacher at Mayor Joseph Fern Elementary in Honolulu, is starting the 2013-14 school year with a $2,000 ING Unsung Heroes grant to help fund his aquaponics system, which combines the principles of hydroponics (growing plants in water) with aquaculture (fish farming) in a recirculating system.
In Atta’s self-contained system, nutrients are continually being added to the water as fish fertilize the plants, the plants remove excess nitrates that can harm the fish, and gravel provides natural filtration for the entire complex. Students will be able to learn firsthand the benefits of an aquaponics system, which mirrors the environment of a natural stream or pond. Also, the program aims to help students learn about larger issues, such as environmental responsibility and food sustainability.
Atta’s program was among 100 winners in the national 2013 ING Unsung Heroes competition. For the past 17 years, the program has honored educators across the country who work to make a lifelong impact in the classroom for their K-12 students. Over the years, the program has awarded more than $4 million to 1,800 educators for their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and ability to positively influence the children they teach.
The 2013 ING Unsung Heroes winners were selected from a group of nearly 1,300 applications. To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the ING Unsung Heroes website at unsungheroes.com.
» A successful fundraising campaign to put in place a permanent exhibition of one of Sadako Sasaki’s paper cranes at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at the USS Arizona Memorial wrapped up recently.
Various organizations, businesses and individuals pitched in a total of more than $62,000 — significantly more than an initial goal of $50,000, according to the Sadako Crane Hawaii Fundraising Committee, chaired by Wayne Miyao, chairman of the Hiroshima-Hawaii Sister State Committee; Carole Hayashino, president and executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii; and Alton Miyamoto, president of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. The additional funds will be used for travel and lodging expenses for the Sasaki family to attend the exhibition’s dedication ceremonies, slated for Sept. 21 (International Peace Day), and to develop promotional and collateral material (possibly in Japanese) to assist foreign tourists visiting the display.
Sadako Sasaki was born on Jan. 7, 1943, in Hiroshima, Japan. She was 2 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped, and was later diagnosed with leukemia. She died on Oct. 25, 1955, at the age of 12. Prior to her passing, Sadako diligently folded paper cranes or "orizuru," based on a Japanese legend that if a sick person folds 1,000 cranes, her wish would be granted. A monument dedicated to her memory and as a memorial to all the children who had died from the effects of the atomic bomb was erected in Japan’s Hiroshima Peace Park. Today, the origami crane has become an international symbol of peace, and people around the world continue to fold paper cranes with the hope of peace.
» Hawaii author Lee A. Tonouchi’s pidgin poetry collection, "Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son," has won the 2013 Book Award for poetry/prose from the Association for Asian American Studies. The work was originally published by Bess Press in 2011. Known as "Da Pidgin Guerrilla," Tonouchi also authored "DaKine Dictionary: Da Hawaii Community Pidgin Directionary Projeck"; "Da Word," a collection of pidgin stories; and a play, "Three Year Swim Club."
Founded in 1970, the Association for Asian American Studies supports excellence in teaching and research in Asian-American studies; and promoting better understanding and closer ties between and among various subcomponents within Asian-American studies, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Hawaiian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander and other groups.
