Mohala in Middle School

Students completed a lesson on puberty and learned a Hawaiian Cultural Value Mohala, which means to mature physically, emotionally and socially.  During the lesson, students learned how their bodies are changing during adolescence and that these changes happen at different rates for different people.  This is part of the normal developmental process. In the lesson, we discussed how a wa’a (canoe) also goes through many changes, from a koa seedling that becomes a tree then a canoe.  As a part of the lesson, students have a canoe building activity to enhance the students’ personal development and understanding of puberty and to reinforce that different is normal.  Students created a wa’a (canoe) symbolizing their unique self. We then took our canoes to the school pond to see if they could float.