Who We Are
LAHELA KEIKILA’AU’O’WAKANAHELE CHANDLER CORREA
Lahela Chandler Correa has been the Visitor Program Manager at Limahuli Garden in Haena for the past 20 years. She has been the essence of Aloha at the gardens and is known as “Auntie Aloha”. For the past year Lahela has been heavily involved in the Wainiha/Haena community due to the devastating floods experienced on island. She has assisted at the food pantry, delivering food to kupuna and anywhere else she can be of help.
Lahela was born and raised on the island of Kaua’i in the Wainiha Valley. Where they farmed Kalo (Taro) to provide for their ʻohana and the community. Her parents Francis Sr. and Kapeka Chandler were born and raised in Ha’ena and came from large ohana’s (families). Her immediate family consists of 10 brothers, 5 sisters and one half-sister; she is number 13 of all my siblings. Both of her parents were great examples of Aloha. They showed Aloha by living it every day. They were taught that Aloha was taking care of your family, being kind to everyone, being helpful, being honest, always setting a good example, working hard, doing your best, keeping their name good and always respecting your elders. As Lahela so eloquently states; “Aloha is not just a word, it has a deeper meaning that is endless. Like all things in life if not passed down and taught, it will be forgotten. Aloha is a way of life that was taught for generations to our people. This is who we are, we live it, we breath it every day of our lives. This is how the first foreigners were greeted when they came here. Aloha means that when we meet someone they are greeted with utmost kindness. When we offer to do something, nothing is expected in return and when we share, we give freely. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, blue or green, I believe we all have Aloha. Aloha is considered the gift of the Hawaiian people to the world. Learn and share Aloha today.”
Ann Hettinger
Over the past 20 years, Ann Hettinger has been an entrepreneur, owner, manager and guide of Noelani Hawaii SUP a women’s adventure retreat, running coach for kids and adults. Her background is in business, Human Performance and athletics. Her love for sports and helping kids and adults reach their own potential has always been a challenge and privilege. In December of 2018 she competed in the XTERRA World Challenge ½ Marathon Trail Race and won her division. She is also an avid OC1 & OC6 canoe paddler for Namolokama Canoe Club. Her entrepreneurial spirit has always driven her to follow her heart and her passion from the mountains of Colorado to the oceans of Kauai. She has been involved with the community and schools in many different capacities. In past years she has volunteered as the track coach for Hanalei School and assisted in the cross-country program at Kapaa High School. She has been a helping hand at numerous different schools from Kindergarten through 6th grade assisting teachers in classroom activities pertaining to the Aloha Books, from making leis, drawing and writing activities and sharing her personal love for reading and writing with students. She has also served on the Namolokama Canoe Club Board of Directors for the past three years as Corresponding Secretary. Her passion is writing, designing, and editing the Aloha Books which she has done for the past 4 years. She has written and published numerous essays and pieces relating to social issues; from violent video games and its effect on children, to health, organics and spiritual beliefs. Her love for writing has always been a creative outlet. She truly believes every person can make a difference.
It is through her friend and mentor Lahela Correa Chandler, she learned the meaning of Aloha and continues to learn and be reminded daily of the simple but powerful meaning of this word. As Ann puts it “The word Aloha grounds me; it reminds me of the person I strive to be.” It is Ann’s honor to help and support Lahela to share the message of Aloha with the world and to hopefully create a better place for her children, 7 grandchildren and all future generations to come.
SHAULA TUALAULELEI - Kumu and CULTURAL ADVISOR
Shaula Tualaulelei is a proud mother of 3 college graduates and has been happily married for 26 years. Employed with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education for the past 20 years. Currently teaching Hawaiian Studies at Holualoa Elementary School on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. I am very grateful to my Kupuna for raising me with their LEGACY of ALOHA, and now am blessed to help to do my part in teaching the future of our island keiki in "Building Character through ALOHA".
SHAULA'S TESTIMONIAL
Aloha All,
I wanted to share my heart and mana'o with you all on how excited I am to incorporate, "Aloha, What it Means to My ʻOhana and Yours" in my Hawaiian Studies classroom this year. Last year when I was asked to take over Hawaiian Studies in the spring semester, it was important to me to focus on, "Building character through Aloha!" with the children. I decided to do Aloha Journals. The students wrote a paragraph on what they did to show Aloha to someone else, or what others did to show Aloha to them. It was very well received with the children and their perception of Aloha was inspiring at times, and just pierced my heart. The teachers also embraced it, and it was through one of them that I was told about a wonderful book circulating some schools on Kauaʻi. I searched and was able to get a hold of Ann Hettinger. It was then that I knew after numerous conversations that every student in my school would need to get a book to call theirs. At the end of the spring semester I placed an order right away to have it for this school year. It is wonderfully written, and I am very pleased to know I now have another resource I can pull from. Just recently they have released another book with more hands on activities teachers can incorporate if they choose to. My hope is that every Kupuna Program in the State of Hawaii will embrace this tool and help to instill the next generation with Aloha in their hearts, and to continue the Legacy of Aloha we were so fortunate to be born into by our Kupuna.
Written With Fond Aloha~ Shaula Tualaulelei~ Holualoa Elementary School- Hawaiian Studies
Site Content
mARIKA aNDERSON
Head of Education Committee – Strategic planning, assessment of programs
Marika Anderson has worked in the field of education, in both public and private sectors, for 8 years in myriad capacities: learning specialist, secondary math and science educator, curriculum developer, and board of director’s member. She has a passion for interdisciplinary, project-based learning, and creating curriculum that is place-based and personal, building relevance and context into learning experiences. She has a bachelor’s of science from Cal Poly, SLO and a master’s in education from Harvard University. She is grateful to live in a beautiful valley on the north shore of Kauai, where she and her family, friends and neighbors learn and cultivate teachings of aloha.
Marika’s role is to help develop a plan to assess the impact of the curriculum in schools (as in-depth as you wanted, from surveys, observations, statistical analysis linking to school behavioral data, etc...) to support grant writing and fundraising efforts, strategic planning and support in future build out of program, website, training tools (in-person workshops, videos, etc.).
