Keeping Windward CC student-parents on paths to degrees

Ke Kula Kamaliʻi ʻo Hānaiaulu is Windward Community College’s Hawaiian immersion childcare center, catering to student parents for success in their collegiate journeys. It also provides services to faculty, staff and the community. 

“At Hānaiaulu, we make it clear that everything we do is rooted in Hawaiian language and culture,” says director Kirsten Freeman. “Children learn through mele, mo‘olelo, and daily practice, while families are invited to learn alongside them. This way, education isn’t just in the classroom — it becomes part of the home and community too.”

Expected and unexpected community impact

Hānaiaulu opened in fall 2021 after years of research, planning, and facility renovation.  While its dual focus on assisting Windward CC students with completion of their degrees and providing quality care for toddlers and infants has brought the intended impacts on graduation rates, it has seen unexpected benefits to the windward O‘ahu community as well.

“We offered services to members of the Windward staff and the surrounding community to increase children’s enrollment,” says founding director Puanani Kama. “Then these parents started taking classes. We didn’t anticipate families taking classes in Hawaiian language and other subjects because of their children’s participation.”

Windward Chancellor Ardis Eschenberg, who has led the research and planning since its inception, says, “If a mother earns her degree, her children are more likely to earn their degrees, which in turn means that the next generation is more likely, and on and on. Maternal education positively changes life trajectories for generations.”

“I wasn’t worried about my keiki during the day, so I could concentrate on school,” says Alana Grace, a single mother who completed her AA while her youngest child attended Hānaiaulu. “We also benefited from the various workshops offered throughout the year, which helped to strengthen my ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i as well as my ‘ohana.”

Alana graduated from UH West O‘ahu last fall with a bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian Indigenous health and healing. Today, she is a Student Support associate at Hānaiaulu. “I’m blessed to be able to still engage with the keiki and help out when needed,” she says. She was recently admitted to graduate school at UH Mānoa, where she plans to earn a master’s degree in social work.

Retaining special talent

One of the biggest challenges the center faces is ensuring it has the competitive compensation it needs to recruit and retain top-notch educators. In addition to the many UH and state Department of Human Services requirements, its teachers must be fluent in the Hawaiian language.

Despite these challenges, Hānaiaulu provides steady support for student-parents as a place where Hawaiian language and values are part of everyday life. Its impact continues through families, classrooms, and the broader Windward community.

A promise kept

Donors played a vital role in launching Hānaiaulu, and they help sustaining its mission. Their support ensures that student-parents can access culturally grounded childcare while pursuing their degrees — a commitment shaping lives across the campus and community.

One member of the Windward CC community contributed in memory of her late husband, a longtime educator at UH Mānoa. “We both believe deeply in education,” she says. “I worked at Windward for many years, so I’ve seen how hard it can be for students. Before he passed, I asked if we could do something to help. He said yes — and that was the last wish we talked about.”

She describes their gift as a quiet promise between them, not for recognition, but to support students and early education in a meaningful way. “We just do what we can,” she says. “My husband was a very good educator, and I want to honor that.”