There is a row of well-dressed guests visiting the second-grade classroom, including the chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts, but teacher Inori Kim has her 20 7-year-olds focused on the book she’s reading.

“What do you see?” she asks, holding open a page that shows a blob of red paint and a smaller blob of blue. “Take 20 seconds to observe.” She has covered up the text of the story with white Post-Its. The students have to study the images and interpret the story on their own. When the 20 seconds have elapsed, Kim says, “Share your ideas with your friends.”

The students, who are all seated on the floor, turn to form groups of four. They do this effortlessly, like they’ve done this break- for-discussion move dozens of times.

They have.

Kalihi Kai Elementary was selected for the Turnaround Arts Program last year. The national program provides arts education services to “priority-designated” lowest-performing schools in the state. Turnaround Arts is funded through the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment of the Arts and private foundations. In Hawaii the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts supports the Turnaround schools through its arts education programs.

The NEA’s chairwoman, Jane Chu, included Kalihi Kai elementary on her list of appearances during her recent Hawaii visit. She watched and smiled as Kim used a plastic wastepaper basket as a drum to signal the end of group discussion.

“Red is a hothead. He liked to pick on blue,” one child offered when called upon.

“Red is a bully,” said another.

The students were coming up with story narratives just based on smudges of color.

Kalihi Kai just started to implement Turnaround Arts this school year, but teachers and administrators say they’re already seeing positive changes.

“It’s not just adding an art project to the established curriculum, but really using the strategies,” said the school’s principal, Laura Vines. One is called “visual thinking strategy” and involves observing, describing and interpreting, then making corrections and asking questions. It’s very different from rote memor- ization and calls upon the students to use a higher level of thinking. In a fourth-grade classroom, children were using Turnaround Arts strategies to analyze a nonfiction text.

About 50 percent of the students in Kalihi Kai are English language learners, though Vines says that number fluctuates and has been closer to 65 percent at times. The arts allow for deeper understanding and innovative thinking regardless of language differences.

“Many of us came to the arts because it’s an equalizer for us,” said Chu, who grew up in Arkansas the child of Chinese-speaking immigrant parents and found a path for herself studying music.

Rae Takemoto, program director for Turnaround Arts Hawaii, marveled at the second-graders who were so absorbed in their work of describing characters and analyzing a story. “You couldn’t tell the difference between which ones were struggling with the language and which ones weren’t,” she said. “They’re so engaged. And students who are engaged learn more.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.