HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0553.003 2014-2016PloouNcu.
STARBASE Hawaii Written Testimony
Aloha kakou council members! My name is Todd Friel, and I am the Program Director of
STARBASE Hawaii. I am unable to attend your scheduled council meeting, but wish to submit
this written testimony in support of Resolutions 331-15, 335-15 and 341-15 to provide funds for
bus transportation to our community schools that attend the STARBASE Hawaii program.
STARBASE Hawaii is one of 59 remaining STARBASE sites established by the DOD, nationwide.
The objective of the STARBASE program is to bring science, technology, engineering and math
enrichment to the classrooms of at -risk youth in inner city and/or rural areas on behalf of the
DOD (state and federal) and more specifically in our case, the Hawaii National Guard.
STARBASE Hawaii, Big Island is now the only STARBASE site in the state (the other, which was
sponsored by the U.S. Navy and located at Pearl Harbor, closed its doors in June of 2013 as a
result of sequestration). STARBASE Hawaii serves primarily the public school 5th grade
classrooms of the Ka'u, Kea'au and Pahoa DOE complex where historically, students have had
lower academic performance and are at a socio-economic disadvantage.
Since our inception in late -2008, we have served over 4,400 students. Some updated statistics
since I last provided testimony to the council in September on related Resolution 263-15:
* STARBASE Hawaii served 677 students from 16 schools during FY15.
* 76:7% of the students we served were considered "disadvantaged" by federal standards.
* 88.9% of them were considered ethnic minorities in the U.S. population, and:
* 11.7% of them were English Language Learners (ELL/ESL).
* Our data also shows that students gained an average measured increase of 50.7% in STEM
curriculum taught at STARBASE (based on testing results at the start and finish of our program).
STARBASE Hawaii currently serves 12 schools a year, and our curriculum includes the subject
areas of physics, chemistry, nanotechnology, engineering, mathematics operations and
applications, and STEM career exposure. In addition, we usually offer at least 2 summer
programs for students who attend schools that do not or cannot participate with STARBASE
during the normal school year. STARBASE Hawaii also collaborates with other STEM
organizations and participates in a number of community events providing them with hands-on
displays and presentations.
STARBASE is funded by an annual renewable grant from Congress, again by way of DOD.
According to current policy, older sites such as ours are no longer allowed to use program funds
to provide busing for participating schools. Despite our efforts to request an exemption to this
policy, we have yet to receive an answer, and this is what brings us to your chambers.
In closing, I wish to thank you for allowing me to provide this written testimony, and I hope you
see that approval of these resolutions/appropriations will be a worthwhile investment in our
community. It is also my hope that our community will see in a positive light, the active
participation of all levels of government: federal, state and county in the educating of our keiki.
Mahalo!
Todd A.N. Friel
Program Director
STARBASE Hawaii
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