Giving back to Maui keiki was at the heart of an educational trip to the Valley Isle by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Mathematics faculty members and graduate students.
Professor Monique Chyba, Associate Professor Yuriy Mileyko and Assistant Professor Chuang Xu, with graduate students Alan Tong and Sam Glickman, visited Nāpili Noho, a community based emergency distribution hub at Nāpili Park that is helping those affected by the devastating Lahaina wildfire. They conducted math activities during a Christmas carnival-style event held on December 16. Singer-songwriter and Hawaiʻi native Jack Johnson performed and also participated in math games with the keiki. Johnson was actually a math major before switching to film.
Prior to their visit to West Maui, the UH Mānoa team interacted with about 40 high school students (grades 9–11) at UH Maui College. The students are part of TRiO Upward Bound, an engaging educational program that prepares low-income, first-generation high school students for college. The Maui students learned about graph theory, which is the study of graphs, that has cutting-edge applications such as social and traffic networks, optimal routing for emergency response, and molecular epidemiology.
“The opportunity provided me valuable experience working with traditionally underserved populations which require intentional support to meet their unique needs,” Glickman said. “It was very inspiring to see smiles on these young people’s faces despite the traumatic experiences they have endured, and seeing the Hawaiʻi community come together to support the youth of Maui.”
This effort is part of a RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation on trauma-informed STEM education. Chyba and Mileyko are co-principal investigators on the grant.
“It is a privilege to work with the Maui community and provide some educational support for their students, the resilience and engagement that we have seen is really inspiring,” Chyba said. “The high school students have displayed remarkable interest and focus during our lesson on graph theory, and the younger ones in Nāpili Park brought joy and excitement to our math activities. This work, in collaboration with Professor Tara O’Neill (UH Mānoa College of Education, principal investigator) and Professor Tom Blamey (UH Maui College, co-principal investigator), is to help build STEM learning environments where the focus is processing and healing. While there is a long journey ahead, we are humbled to be part of this effort.”
The Department of Mathematics is housed in UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences.
