The Power of Wondering What Could Be School

Abstract

Early in the 2023–2024 school year, Mr. Medeiros and a handful of his Kaua’i High School Future Teachers of Hawai’i club members took a two-day huaka’i (trip) to Oahu. This service-learning trip was part of the learning progression for the club, which is focused on student advocacy and social justice. With the help of Josh Reppun, retired Hawai’i State Supreme Court Justice Mike Wilson, the people at What School Could Be, and other amazing educators, the students began their huaka’i by gathering together to think and talk about the purpose of education/school. Ostensibly, they were traveling to Oahu to learn from others, but, really, the adults were there to learn how to keep pushing the boundaries of the idea of “school.”