With water safety at the forefront, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) and Nā Kama Kai partnered to pilot a culturally grounded, ocean safety program at all six public elementary schools located in Nānākuli and Waiʻanae — Leihōkū, Māʻili, Mākaha, Nānāikapono, Nānākuli, and Waiʻanae.

“Everything we do is connected to our ocean. Our kids go to the ocean for fun, they go to the ocean for food, they need to learn how to take care of the ocean. Because they have so much exposure to the ocean, … it’s important that they be prepared to be safe,” said Disa Hauge, Nānākuli-Waiʻanae Complex Area Superintendent. “The fact that we can get our students into the water, and actually being taught by experts how to swim is in one word — lifesaving.”

This new ocean swim model was created to address water safety concerns for communities near the ocean and aligned with larger statewide water safety efforts, including the newly released 2025 Hawai‘i Water Safety Plan, the first of its kind for Hawaiʻi. 

The swim pilot filled a critical gap in the underserved West Oʻahu neighborhoods where public swimming pools and swim lessons are limited. According to key drowning data from the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health, drowning deaths of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander keiki ages 1-17 is three times higher than the percentage for all other ethnicities in the same age group.

Matt Kauwe, COO of Nā Kama Kai explained, “From Makakilo all the way to the end of the coast, there are no public swimming pools. So, in many communities on our island, children have the benefit of going to a community pool, or maybe even a pool at one of the schools they go to. Here on the Westside, kids do not have access to that.”

The program began this school year with an initial cohort of 450 fourth grade students from the beginning of the school year in August until this week.

Students boarded buses to Hālau Nā Kama Kai (Nā Kama Kai’s headquarters) at Pōkaʻī Bay. The swim pilot was embedded during the school day to ensure fourth graders learned necessary ocean and water safety, practical swimming skills, and respectful engagement with Hawaiʻi’s coastal environment.

Leihōkū Elementary Principal Rebecca Gebreyesus watched each of the lessons down at the beach. 

“This is the best natural resource anyone could ask for. And the people of Mākaha and Waiʻanae, all the way up to Nānākuli, this is an ocean community. In education, we know safety is always first, and nothing means more than keeping our kids safe. We know that this is their number one activity, all the time, after school, during the summer.”

The immersive program covered swim skills, ocean safety, and cultural knowledge over five with one-hour lessons. Students were provided a swim kit which included goggles to protect their eyes in the saltwater. 

Participating students completed pre- and post-assessments to measure growth and understanding of ocean safety concepts. Preliminary assessments revealed that about 50% of students moved up one swim level and approximately 11% of students moved up two swim levels during the program. The assessments will be used to determine the next steps for ocean swimming and water safety lessons in the HIDOE.

For Leihōkū Elementary fourth grader Zaydee Sibounheuang, the swim lessons shored up her courage and fortified her skills. “As a newer swimmer, I learned how to be confident in myself while swimming,” she said. 

And that is exactly Hauge’s wish, “My hope is that we can support all of our children learning water safety, how to swim, and how to read the ocean, so that they learn from the ocean how to respect it, never to turn your back on it.”