An old, unused ticket kiosk at Diamond Head (Leahi) State Monument was repurposed with artwork and QR code links to student research by a nearby elementary school — the product of the most recent partnership between the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and local schools.

The new educational kiosk was born from a yearlong partnership between DLNR and students at Waikiki Elementary School. It features QR codes that link to educational videos created by the students, as well as a life-size mosaic of an iwa (great frigate bird) and signs with student artwork of native plants found at the monument.

“The partnership with Waikiki School is unique in terms of the interpretive materials that have been generated by the students and the longevity of the partnership,” DLNR said in a statement. “These partnerships are a great way for schools and students to use the parks as outdoor classrooms while assisting Parks with projects that promote the preservation and restoration of Hawaii’s native species and ecosystems.”

As part of the school’s curriculum this year, third, fourth and fifth graders studied different aspects of the monument, including native Hawaiian birds and plants found at the crater, as well as the monument’s history and culture.

Through partnerships with park staff and community members, students in each grade worked on a different project: Third graders worked on the life-size iwa mosaic; fourth graders examined invasive and native plants; and fifth graders went weekly to Diamond Head to learn about the cultural, geographical and historical features of the crater.

The school then gave the work to DLNR, which incorporated it into signs posted around the monument.

Courtney Carpenter, Waikiki Elementary School’s partnerships and place-based education coordinator, said student projects with community partners are a new challenge and struggle for students, as the work is done with a larger purpose than just a grade.

“It’s not like you’re going to get a grade A through C and it’s done. Here you do your best. It’s what standards-based (learning) is all about,” she said. “There is a lot of fun, but there’s just so much grit involved with trying to get the project to the point that it’s of a quality that we can put it out to the public. I think in the long run they’re going to look back and be really satisfied and happy.”

Carpenter said the school is lucky to be within walking distance of Diamond Head, the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium — which has facilitated numerous partnerships with these community organizations over the years, including the one with DLNR that began in 2015 and began again in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic.

“It kind of started during COVID because a lot of kids couldn’t go on field trips because they would have had to get on buses,” Carpenter said. “As soon as we were able to leave campus during COVID, we set up some partnerships with Diamond Head, and the kids would go off and learn different aspects about the crater, the geology, the natural history and the cultural importance.”

In the past, DLNR’s Division of State Parks has also partnered with Waianae Intermediate School, which assisted with invasive plant removal and the outplanting of native plants at Kaena Point State Park, and West Hawaii Exploration Academy, which assisted with the restoration of an anchialine pool at Kekaha Kai State Park in Kona.

The synergy that comes with partnerships is what keeps Carpenter working to create more projects to benefit the larger community.

“With partnerships we really do reach out to the organizations that we partner with, and we say, ‘Well, what can we produce for you?’” she said. “It’s a really nice communication and dialogue where it’s actually producing tangible, useful stuff for the organizations that we work with.”

To mark the culmination of their hard work, over 100 Waikiki Elementary School students and teachers led a chant through the tunnel entrance to the monument before the kiosk’s blessing ceremony the morning of May 20 — making them the first of the potential millions of visitors who can view the exhibit.

“By the time these students graduate high school, anywhere from five to seven million visitors will have passed the kiosk, interacted and hopefully learned something new about Leahi,” DSSP Assistant Administrator Alan Carpenter said in a DLNR news release.

Diamond Head State Monument sees up to 3,000 people a day, or about a million visitors per year.