Bringing The NFL To Nanakuli
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An excited swarm huddled under tents just outside of Nanaikapono Elementary School Feb. 7. But these sports players, fans and dignitaries weren’t on hand for a Pro Bowl-week celebration; rather, they made the trip out to Nanakuli for the much-anticipated groundbreaking ceremony of the National Football League Youth Education Town (YET)-Hawaii.
Key players at the ceremony included Frank Supovitz, NFLsenior vice president; David Nakada, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii (BGCH); Mayor Mufi Hannemann, NFL players and a slew of other community and government leaders as well as youth representatives from the BGCH. The day’s game plan also included a traditional Hawaiian blessing by Kahu Kamaki Kanahele and ancient chant and hula by halau Au’a’ia Kuikalahiki N’pono Museum Club.
But the MVP who helped make this event possible is Myron Brumaghim, chairman of the NFLYET-Hawaii Advisory Board. Brumaghim proudly served as principal at Nanaikapono for 19 years before retiring at the beginning of this year. He watched the school transform from a humble schoolhouse built in 1936 to a technologically advanced infrastructure complete with smart boards, clustered classrooms and a break-out room, all meant for helping students learn at their fullest potential.
“Education is the key to success of kids,” Brumaghim explains. “What you need to do is you need to work with something that they know, then you work with the more complex stuff. So you start with something simple, something that they have grown up with, listened to, saw, read about. It’s not just the knowledge part in terms of science, in terms of mathematics, in terms of literacy, but it’s also a place to develop leadership skills and all those things. But you need to start someplace.”
Brumaghim adds that since he took over the reins, technology in the classroom improved by 200 percent.
Born and raised in Kalihi, Brumaghim led a rough-and-tumble life. His father passed away when he was 3 years old, and Brumaghim says his mother struggled to support the family. They eventually wound up on welfare, and while his family lived in Kalihi homestead homes, Brumaghim says at one point he also lived on the beach and in cars. But he says making it through those tough times helped him develop his passion for helping children.
“My background is no different than anyone else’s,” he attests. “I guess because of that I developed these values that I think are important, that we need to make sure that these kids have a break. I guess it’s the idea that if I can do it, so can they.”
This YET-Hawaii center, which is slated to open in early 2009, is unique for several reasons. First and foremost, the center in Hawaii will be the only YET center built outside of a Super Bowl host city. There are currently 14 YET centers operating in Los Angeles, Phoenix, New Orleans, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Detroit and Atlanta. Three host cities - San Diego, Tampa, Fla., and Houston - each have two centers.
The NFL broke tradition and chose the Nanaikapono location in tribute to the positive legacy of the Pro Bowl, the post-season championship all-star game that has been played at Aloha Stadium since 1980.
The Hawaii YET center also will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certified after-school facility in the YET network. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted standard for designing, constructing and operating green buildings. In keeping with the system, Hawaii’s YET center will recognize these five areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
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“They call it smart growth today, we call it the ahupua’a system,” explains Micah Kane, director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. “The ahupua’a system is a live-work, play-learn community. They use different words, but we’ll get them to know the Hawaiian word and put that into the future ordinances of the county.”
In ancient Hawaii, each island (moku) was divided into sections that ran from the mountains to the ocean called ahupua’a. Each ahupua’a contained nearly all the resources needed to be self-sustaining, and every Hawaiian had a designated responsibility.
“One thing that these kids have a great interest in is what’s around them. These kids know who they are,” Brumaghim says with a grin. “It’s that idea that you start with just something simple, and then you start to build on it. Ahupua’a, moku, states, countries, the world ... those interactions between each other makes that difference.”
According to Brumaghim, Hawaiians knew these interactions helped strengthen their own communities. If one ahupua’a lacked something, they would trade goods with their neighbors. He says he is happy to see this alive and well in what is going on at Nanaikapono today.
“It’s that seamless operation of people sharing resources for the benefit of one thing, and that’s kids,” Brumaghim says.
The YET-Hawaii center is funded by a $1 million donation from the NFL as well as through private and public contributions from the state, city and other corporations. It will be managed by the BGCH, a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to inspiring Hawaii’s youth to become responsible citizens since 1976.
“There’s gonna be something here for these young people,” states Nakada. “I think the other nice thing that’s gonna come out of this, because of the design and our partnership with the NFLand their programs, is (the children are) gonna be learning something and they’re not gonna know they’re learning anything because it’s gonna be so much fun. I think that’s the key to the whole thing.”
For 15 years, the NFL has worked in a partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which BGCH is a subsidiary, and leading community organizations to construct YET centers, always keeping in mind their mission to increase educational opportunities for at-risk youth through providing funding to create state-of-the-art after-school facilities.
“I think it’s an easy thing to get involved in considering the benefits it brings to the community,” Kane says. “There’s definitely a need for these types of services here. It complements the overall plan of this area, it complements the elementary school - it’s a great fit. It’s a presence in the community.”
The Nanaikapono site is projected to be a 10,000-square-foot facility situated on 1.61 acres of Hawaiian Home Lands and will include an outdoor amphitheater, arts and crafts center, technology center, multimedia studio, teen center, community room, learning center and fully functioning native Hawaiian garden. Leeward keiki ages 7 to 12 will be provided with tutoring services, career training, computer education and access to supervised recreational activities. Brumaghim adds that parking will not be a major issue because the children to be served are elementary-aged; another Boys and Girls Club for older youths (seventh- to 12th-graders) is nearing completion and is located near Nanakuli High and Intermediate School.
In addition to his busy schedule with the NFL YET-Hawaii, Brumaghim is working with the University of Hawaii College of Education as part of Ho’okulaiwi ‘Aha Ho’ona’auao, also known as the Center for Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Education, to support the preparation of teachers and educational leaders for Hawaiian communities.
Although he no longer works at Nanaikapono, his love for the community and the keiki is still quite tangible.
“It’s the feedback that you get from these kids that’s worth more than a million bucks,” he says as his eyes begin to shine with tears. “It’s that you made a difference in their life. They might not have the best job in the world, but, eh, you know what, there’s a place for everybody. As long as you’re working and doing a good job and you’re taking care of your family, that’s it. As long as you’re doing that stuff, you’re a success in my eyes.
“As we all know, an old cliché, it takes an entire village to teach a child,” Brumaghim says before being hugged by former students and friends. “We have an incredible opportunity here to make a lasting impact on the youth of Hawaii. I’d like to continue to encourage all of Hawaii’s community to embrace, take ownership and celebrate the new NFL YET-Hawaii.”
There are currently 12 BGCH clubhouses on Oahu and Kauai. Annual membership is $1. For more information on the NFL YET-Hawaii site and how to become a BGCH member, visit www.bgch.com
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