As parents of public school students finish filling out paperwork and buying supplies, their thoughts turn to after-school programs and extracurricular activities.

The free Ha Initiative allows students to expand their science, technology, engineering and math knowledge through creative projects and hands-on activities.

Since its opening in 2011, the Ha Initiative has provided innovative learning experiences for nearly 300 second- to eighth-grade students every year.

The daily after-school program provides homework help and reading time, lesson plans, free play and computer time on designated educational websites, with sessions continuing during school breaks.

Program specialist and teacher Kehau Miya has been working with the Ha Initiative for six months. She teaches 36 students at the Windward location, Waiahole Elementary School. Miya, a former kindergarten and preschool teacher, said the program’s focus on the community and 21st-century career readiness drew her in.

“As STEM is growing across the nation, our program is about getting our kids in Hawaii ready to get out in the world,” Miya said. “What they learn here will be useful in their future education and careers.”

Lessons include designing robots that race or lift objects, demonstrating physics principles such as Newton’s Law, building race cars and taking field trips to Bishop Museum and Sea Life Park.

The Ha Initiative was created by the Honolulu Community Action Program, a nonprofit that provides services to low-income individuals and families. Each of the Ha Initiative’s five locations was opened near a Title 1 school or low-income neighborhood.

All second- to eighth-grade students can join regardless of income, but there is a 30-student cap for each center and the Windward and Kalihi centers have filled their rosters and begun placing students on a wait list. To join, students can register at the classroom site with their parents.

Mona Waiau, a single mother who enrolled both her daughters in the program, said she’s seen a positive change in her children.

“My daughters really like coming here, and now they’re a lot more eager to learn and try new things,” Waiau said. “And I’m a firm believer in hands-on, more outside learning rather than sitting in the classroom.”

Her 10-year-old daughter, Harmoni, recently became the Waiahole location’s robotics team leader, while her 6-year-old daughter, Harlynn, enjoyed designing a robot to race against her sister’s. In October and November, lesson plans are centered on robotics to prepare for the competitions that take place at the end of the year.

A mix of staff teachers and volunteers run the Ha Initiative centers. High school students often help as junior leaders, providing positive role models to the younger children. The program also hosts a career day and monthly video chats with professionals who describe their career fields to students.

Brian Wadnal, 60, combined his background in engineering and mentorship to serve as a volunteer on Engineering Tuesdays at the program’s Windward center. Wadnal found the program after searching for volunteer opportunities online and has been volunteering with the Ha Initiative since April.

“A lot of the kids don’t know exactly what an engineer does, but they get excited when you tell them they can work on cars and build things. Recently we built bridges to teach them the process of engineering,” Wadnal said. “The kids are great, and some of them might have an interest in engineering in the future.”

Nine-year-old Keahe Denton attends the program at Waiahole Elementary every day, even during summer break, and said programming robots is her favorite activity.

“I liked building our bridges and doing robots,” Keahe said. “The robots do cool things, like maybe if you cannot reach something, they can help you.”

Her 7-year-old sister, Kipukai Denton, agreed. “Everything we learn is fun!”

Tehani Diaz, the action program’s interim director of community services, said she’s blown away by how much the students, some of whom had never even turned on a computer, learn over the course of the program.

“These days there’s so many people with smartphones and other technology that we don’t realize there are a lot of kids who don’t have those things,” Diaz said. “This program is really about exposure. It’s about the freedom to be creative and find teachable moments in everything.”

For more information visit hcapweb.org, or to join, call 521-4531.