“SHE CARRIES THE MANA WITH HER….” Mary Anna Enriquez is a teacher at Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina Maui and has been selected to sail as crew on Hokule’a for one of the upcoming legs. She is using Hawaiki Rising in her classes. In one exercise, she asks her students to read the book and then write down a number of questions to ask her peers to answer. Both the questions – and the answers – are wonderful. Here is one example (more to come) Question: Sam (Ka’ai) describes the Hokule’a as “the light that cares” going down the lei of bones from the past to present. How would you describe Hokule’a in your own way? Answer: I see the Hokule’a as a sea bird, flying across the ocean. Flying from island to island, greeting people as she comes and goes. She carries the mana with her and sprinkles that mana over the land and the sea. She sends a message of peace to everyone and will continue to do so for many years to come. Here is teacher Mary Anna’s biography from the Sacred Hearts web site: Mary Anna was born in New Mexico and raised on a cotton farm. She became passionate about sailing at the age of 14. After receiving her BA in Psychology and Special Education and an MA in Reading from Whittier College, where she also taught, she spent 10 years living on her 30-foot sailboat, Finesse, sailing throughout the Pacific 7 of the 10 years. Mary Anna is beginning her 14th year teaching middle school literature, English and Religion at Sacred Hearts School. She is passionate about students’ learning styles and believes that the teacher is the student along with the students being the teachers. When she’s not at school, Mary Anna facilitates labyrinth walks, hikes and travels (first choice always by sailboat). Mary Anna is a teacher/crew member on Hokulea. She is one of 20 teachers statewide, chosen to participate in Ao Hawaii, a grant from the University of Hawaii and Polynesian Voyaging Society supporting the double hulled sailing canoes, Hokulea and Hikianalia in the Worldwide Voyage beginning May 2014. The sister ships from Hawaii will travel more than 45,000 nautical miles across the globe, visiting at least 26 countries, with stops at 62 ports of call. The goal of the voyage is to Malama Honua (Care for the Earth) around the world, to share traditional Hawaiian practices and to learn from other cultures their own methods of taking care of planet earth. The mission is to join forces with like-minded peoples across the planet in an effort to navigate towards a sustainable future. Mary Anna will serve as a STEMS education ambassador connecting Hokulea and Hikianalias journeys to both local and global classrooms. She was able to spend three weeks aboard Hokulea this summer while it visited Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 22:05:16 +0000
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