By: Angelica Rockquemore
On Saturday, September 24th, HHF Planners, Waimānalo community members, teachers, and organizations gathered at Blanche Pope Elementary School (BPES) for Green Apple Day of Service 2016. Started by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Center for Green Schools in 2012, Green Apple Day of Service activates hundreds of thousands of volunteers (individuals, companies, and organizations) every year with the challenge of building greener environments in their schools and communities.
This year, HHF partnered with BPES to further realize the school’s vision for its native and canoe plant cultural garden, or māla. BPES teachers, staff and administrators strive to perpetuate Hawaiian culture through lessons taught in the māla.
In collaboration with BPES teachers, staff and administrators, our team of passionate designers and planners developed four unique design projects including a live-shaded arbor learning space, the Lilikoi Hale; a gravel pathway to define learning zones; pili grass planting bed; and improvements to the māla’s existing irrigation system to enhance student learning and overall well-being.
The event brought together over 200 volunteers from keiki to kūpuna and personified the Hawaiian proverb of ‘A‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘I, no task is too big when done together by all. The coming together of so many different community organizations and volunteers for this Green Apple Day of Service truly made this a beautiful and productive day, a testament to the aloha of Waimānalo.
Before and after!
A big mahalo to our community partners and sponsors that made this year’s Green Apple Day of Service truly one to remember:
- USGBC Hawai‘i Chapter
- Blue Zones Project® Ko‘olaupoko
- Ultimate Innovations
- Cole-Brooks Construction
- Growing Pono Schools
- Pā Ola Hawai‘i
- Ke Ola Mamo
- Waimānalo Co-op Market
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Waimānalo
Special thanks to Kumu Laurie Kahiapo for all her mana‘o, and to Alberto Ricordi, PhD, ASLA of PBR Hawaii for heading up the irrigation update, and for his vision for the māla, which inspired and informed our projects.
About the Author
Angelica Rockquemore is a Landscape Designer and Planner at HHF Planners. This year marks the second year that she has been chosen as one of 12 invitees to attend the ASLA Diversity Summit. She was also recently appointed to the national ASLA Associate Advisory Committee.
Angelica joined HHF Planners two years ago, a Fulbright Scholar with experience studying Japanese garden preservation practices in Kyoto, Japan; and expertise in designing outdoor play areas in Maori language immersion preschools (a part of her Master’s thesis), in New Zealand.
She has recently been featured in:
- ASLA Hawaii Chapter blog, “IUCN 2016: A first for the U.S. and Our Keiki“
- ASLA Hawaii Chapter blog, “How to Engage Diversity in Design? Build a Network of Voices“
- A News Release of the American Society of Landscape Architects, “Celebrating Seven Leaders of Landscape Architecture During African American History Month.”
- The January/February 2016 issue of Hawaiiscape (magazine of the Landscape Industry Council of Hawai‘i) on Hawaii’s burgeoning landscape industry stars: “Young Professionals Redefine Success.”